The Hill of Swords
by gabriel blessing
Summary: When Louise Valliere performed her summons for her familiar, she certainly didn't expect for it to be a human! Strangely enough, the boy she summoned, Shirou Emiya, didn't expect to get summoned so soon. He hadn't even died yet!
1. To Be Drawn: The First night

The Hill of Swords

Author's note: Because let's be honest, these two stories were meant to be combined at some point. They're both about someone summoning someone else, the summoner and the summon getting into a relation, and high powered sword fights with magic thrown in as well. I'm going to be playing it fast and loose with the Fate/stay night background. Expect elements of both Fate and Bladeworks routes. I'll be drawing mostly on the anime for the Familiar of Zero elements, though I'm not planning on doing a play by play for the episodes, so expect some particular scenes never to make it to the page.

You know, this really wasn't how I saw my day going. I mean, who could have seen this happening? I mean, yeah, technically, I shouldn't be surprised by this. It's not the first time the supernatural intruded on my peaceful days. It's not the first time I've been dragged reluctantly into a strange and ancient tradition and had no choice but to adapt as best I can. Hell, it's not even the first time I've had to deal with summons.

It is, however, the first time I was the one being summoned.

Well, technically, I suppose I've been summoned before. Only that wouldn't happen to me till after I'm dead. But it still technically happened before, so…

You know what? I blame the Root of the World for this. Only something as unfathomably ancient and powerful as that could ever get away with something that really should have paradoxed me out of existence by now.

Of course all these ramblings are merely a very thinly veiled attempt to distract myself from the fact that I had just been absorbed by some kind of strange green ovaloid from the middle of a busy intersection, hurtled unfathomable distances through a black inky void, and am now standing in a dispersing cloud of smoke in a grassy courtyard of a castle surrounded by a group of what appears to be gaping students.

A quick glance at my surroundings, and I allow myself to relax a bit. When I had first seen the end of the blackness that announced my arrival at my destination I had decided that caution would be the watch word for my initial response. When the summoning had deposited me some fifty feet above the heads of the unsuspecting students, I had been quick to reinforce my body and adjust myself for the fall. The explosion that marked the base of my summoning concealed my landing pad, but I arranged myself so that I'd most likely land feet first and braced myself for a sudden roll if the ground turned out to be uneven.

With a brief stumble, I allowed my legs to bend under the force of the impact, and went to one knee and one hand to steady myself as I landed. My other hand I kept out, palm open and ready to trace in a heartbeat. I called to mind six blades and held them ready. I remembered too well the circumstances of when I was the summoner, and there's no way of knowing whether or not there was a spear wielding maniac just waiting to carve up my own erstwhile summoner that I'd need to drive off.

I find it mildly ironic that one of the blades I had in mind was the same one that had been used against me on that day.

Still, I keep myself low to the ground in order to decrease my height profile, and prepare myself to leap in any direction if necessary. Despite the smoke blocking my view my senses were attuned and I have an accurate estimate on the position of everyone in the field. And when a gentle breeze thins the sulfurous smoke around me enough for my eyes to be useful sensory organs once more, I raise them to look at the one who had summoned me.

Young. That's the first thing I can think of to describe the girl in front of me. She was very thin of frame, with a head of long hair, so strawberry blonde that it appeared almost pink in the high sunlight, and eyes such a light shade of brown that they appeared almost amber. When our eyes met I can feel it: the soft thrill of a magic not mine own coursing through me, humming in both the veins of my blood and the circuits of my magic. There is no doubt in my mind: this is the girl who has summoned me.

For the first endless moment where we both caught sight of each other I debate in my head how I should respond to this. I was clearly summoned, but beyond that I have no other idea what is going on. From experience in the past I know that an integral part of the summoning ritual was ensuring that the summoned creature would know what was necessary for it to survive in the age and environment to which it was summoned, as well as the knowledge of the specific goals of the particular summoning. However the only thing I can feel in the strange magic cycling through me is the certain knowledge that the one in front of me is the one responsible for bringing me to this place. I debate for a moment over how I should respond to this, and while I kneel silently the crowd around me begins to break out in to incomprehensible chattering.

One of the crowd, apparently another student with red hair and one of the biggest chests I've ever seen, calls out something which sounds mocking and begins to laugh in an obviously stilted and cruel manner. I take note of both the hostility and the fact that I can't comprehend just what it is that was being said. As I decipher more of the crowd, my eyes still locked on the eyes of my summoner, I take note of the fact that the language being spoken was unfamiliar. It sounds vaguely like English, but only in a phonetic way. I can make no sense of either the vocabulary or the verb structure. The pink haired girl in front of me seems as reluctant as me to break eye contact, but whatever the redhead said, it's apparently enough to break the moment. Her eyes drag away from me and she snaps something to the bald fellow in glasses with a staff standing nearby. The bald fellow says something in return, and the two argue for a moment.

I take advantage of the brief interlude to note the details of my surroundings. I notice instantly that I'm the only one there not in some kind of uniform. This is also attached to the fact that most of the apparent students there seem to be paired up with a variety of animals, ranging from the mundane to the truly bizarre. One of them seems to have a floating eyeball, while another has a snake wrapped around them. Besides them is a girl with a small frog perched prominently on her shoulder, and another with what appears to be an honest to freaking gods dragon collapsed next to her in a relaxed manner.

It doesn't seem a far stretch of logic, all things considered, to piece together just what's going on here. It seems to be some kind of group ritual, maybe a coming of age ceremony of some kind, and me arriving seems to have caused a stir. It looks like this ritual wasn't intended to call for Servants. Maybe some kind of spirit animal or familiar of sorts? I'll need more information before coming to any specific conclusions, but so far my logic seems pretty sound.

I turn my attention back to the pink haired girl and the bald man. It looks like my presence was causing some kind of dispute, and the girl looked like she was on the losing end of its conclusion. She also doesn't look happy about this at all.

So as I kneel there silently watching all around me, I make a split second decision on just how I'm going to respond.

It only seems fair. It appears as though this girl has been shamed by somehow improperly casting a summoning ritual. As one who has himself been on the commanding side of a similarly miscast ritual, it's only fair I respond in the same way as the one I called. For now at least.

Moving more than my eyes for the first time since I arrived I stand to my full height. The sudden movement causes a brief stir amongst the watchers, and draws the attention of the arguing student and teacher. My movement seems to startle the pink haired girl, and she unconsciously shrinks back a little bit when I reveal my full height. I knew even back as a teenager that once I finished growing I'd be a great bit taller than the average Japanese male. Judging from the bald instructor nearby, I'm still a bit tall for wherever it is I've been called to, but not as noticeably as back home. Still, the girl in front of me is short even by Japanese standards, so I stand nearly head shoulder and chest above her. Looking down at her, I speak for the first time.

"I ask of you, are you my Master?"

I could tell that my words confused them. It was obvious that they were having just as much luck deciphering what I'm trying to say as I am what they are. Still, even if she can't understand my words, she can understand my tone and posture. Though non-confrontational, I clearly project confidence despite my sudden arrival and I carefully shape the tone of my voice into an obvious question.

She stutters lightly once, and then says something short and abrupt, an obvious question herself.

"Upon your summoning, I have come forth. I ask of you again, are you my Master?"

It seems she finally understands that I speak an entirely different language then she does. A brief thrill of chatter circles the crowd of watching students, who seem to be regarding the whole spectacle with great amusement. The redhead girl that had laughed earlier said something again, following her words by even more laughter, this time less intentionally cruel and more just her just finding the situation incredibly amusing. This goads my summoner into action and she drew herself up imperviously and made a sharp motion with her hand while issuing what sounds like a peremptory command. From the movement of her hand I can deduce what she's trying to say.

With a brief nod of my head in acknowledgment, I once more take a knee before her. Rather than the crouch I had taken earlier in preparation for action, this one was straight backed and proud, like a knight before a queen. Apparently both my deductive ability and my proud stance helped alleviate some of the girl's embarrassment, and she manages to regain her bearing. With the look of someone who has resigned themselves to their fate, she points her wand at me, yes, and honest to god wand, and began chanting something. Ah. This should help. It appears that the ritual was incomplete.

I waited patiently, and finally she appeared to finish the incantation and with a grimace closed her eyes and leaned in.

Ah. Heh. Sealed with a kiss I see.

After the act was finished she stepped back with her eyes still closed before finally opening them. Even as the bald instructor said something that sounded important, I felt the magic of the summons in my circuits begin to heat. It spread like fire coursing down through my body till it finally centered on my left hand. With a grimace I glance down and noticed that I seemed to be emitting smoke. Like fire indeed.

I choked back a grimace and raised my hand in front of my face, noting location the magic was burning towards emitting a bright light, literally burning through my muscle flesh and skin, inscribing a mark that looked vaguely runic in my hand even as my fist opened itself desperately as the muscles went off as though they'd been plugged into a wall socket. For a brief moment I felt a ping of worry about this. Is it really such a good idea to let myself get suckered into a contract like this? Bad things can happen if you're not careful about exactly who you sign yourself up with. Especially when the contract is signed with a magi.

Well, no point in worrying about it now. If worse comes to worse, I can always either kill my summoner, or just use Rule Breaker on myself.

Finally, the pain ended and I stopped having to choke back a groan of pain. With a final glance at the runes on my hand I clenched my now aching fist. The loud sound of my fingers cracking echoed through the still onlookers. After committing the runes to memory with a mental note to look them up later, I turned my gaze back to my summoner, who looked vaguely disturbed by the whole process and the obvious pain it put me through. Turning my fist in order to display the marks to her I spoke again.

"With this the pact is complete. I am awaiting your orders, Master."

I'd assumed that with the completion of the contract, it'd iron out some of the minor details that had been concerning me. Like the language barrier. And just what the hell I was summoned for.

When the bald man spoke again and I still couldn't understand what he said, I also realized that I still didn't know just what task I'm supposed to team up with this girl to accomplish. Great.

*Scene break*

It was several very frustrating hours later that the problem of the language barrier was taken care of. Those few hours mostly consisted of me patiently pointing at objects around me, saying their names in Japanese, and trying to convince my Master to say the same object in her language. She seemed less then inclined to participate. Most of the time she responded with a string of angry sounding words with occasional wild gesticulations thrown in. At least, I assume she wasn't participating. I guess it's actually possible that her languages word for 'chair' really did take thirty seconds to say and involved shook fists, but I doubt it. Still, I persevered. No matter how annoyed she was over the process, until the two of us could properly communicate, there would be no way our partnership could possibly succeed. Besides that, I needed information badly. Just where was I? I haven't seen any sign of electricity or any kind of modern appliance. Not a fridge, a stove, hell even a light bulb. I knew eventually I was going to have to use the restroom and the only thing I could pray for there was at least they had running water for toilets. Or at least some kind of hygiene spell available.

Finally, it looked as though the stress of the day finally caused my Master's apparently very short temper to snap. With a brief incantation and a flick of her wand, I quite unexpectedly found myself in the center of a brief low powered explosion.

Yes. Definitely very short tempered.

"My my," I groused to myself sounding resigned. "It looks like I've been summoned by a terrifying Master indeed."

"I understood that!" the girl said sounding surprised.

"And I understood that," I responded, equally surprised. We both stared at each other briefly before I shook it off and continued. "If that was a spell meant for us to understand each other, than it was quite possibly the most violent translation spell I've ever witnessed."

The girl just sighed and looked at her wand forlornly. "It was supposed to be a silence spell."

My eyebrow twitched, ever so slightly, just once. "I see." She was just trying to shut me up? A terrifying master indeed. I shrug it off and stand up from the ground where the explosion had sent me. "Well then. Allow me to make the introduction that I was not able to earlier." While once more towering over her, I inclined my back into a bow, placing one hand over my chest. "I am called Emiya Shirou. Though I appear to have been summoned without a class, I can serve proficiently as either Archer or Saber. I can also serve with passing adequacy as Castor, Lancer, or Assassin. My skills as either Rider or Berserker are lacking, so I sincerely hope neither of those were your intended Servant." Raising my head I met her confused eyes. "Now, I ask you for the third time, this time in words we both can comprehend: Are you my Master?"

Apparently the speech I had carefully prepared seemed to go right over her head. "Archer or Saber? Without a class?" The terminology seemed to confused her, and she tilted her head to the side and squinted her eyes for a moment, apparently attempting to find some reference to the terms I've been dropping left and right. Finally it appeared as though she either didn't recognize them, or simply didn't think them relevant. Shaking her head she dismissed the matter off hand. Assuming a proud stance, back arched with her hands on her hips and with her chin thrust upwards, she continued. "Never mind that! Yes, I am your Master, familiar. And it is good that you can now understand me at least." And just like that, she began undressing. "Now first, you can take these and wash them." She threw the shirt and skirt that she was now no longer wearing at my face and turned to open the cabinet behind her. "I can't believe that I got a commoner as a familiar! Why such a simple looking thing? I wanted a griffin, or a dragon, or something powerful and majestic like that. Why a commoner?" she lamented to the air, apparently dismissing me both as a male and as a person without a second thought now that we could finally properly converse.

My eyebrow twitched again more fiercely this time. With very enforced casualness I took the skirt and blouse from where they had wrapped around my face and held them between my pointer finger and thumb. Holding them gingerly away from me I watched as my Master, who apparently thought that now that I could understand her orders, I would now obey them without question or hesitation. As she, in a complete disregard for my presence, began to change her panties my eyes flickered down to her hands. When I found both of the back of her hands bare, my suspicions were confirmed.

My vision was briefly obscured when she flicked her discarded panties over her shoulder and somehow managed to nail me directly in the face with them without glancing back. "Wash those too," she commanded me imperiously.

"You know," I remind her dryly, "In my homeland after one person introduces themselves, typically the other person does as well, Master."

"I am Louise Francoise Lu Blanc de La Valliere, a noble, and I won't be addressed in such a tone by a commoner," the newly introduced Louise said in a huff. "Now, take those and the rest of the laundry and get to work. If you come back before they're clean you'll be forced to sleep outside for the night."

"From your actions I can tell that you are, perhaps, unfamiliar with the nuances of having summoned a Servant," I respond, in the same tone of voice as earlier despite her chastisement. "I take it from your statements that human summons are unusual in whatever ritual it was you performed that brought me here."

"Why are you presuming to talk to me when I have already given you an order, familiar?" Louise demanded of me, her hands on her hips and nose in the air once more. The fact that she had done so while preparing to put on her nightclothes and was thus still completely naked managed to diminish her air of displeasure. "It is your duty as a familiar to obey! Now hurry up, or there will be no food for a week for you!"

I chuckled despite myself. "Very well, Master. Is there anymore that require washing?" The apparent amusement that her orders drew from me seemed to irritate her, but she simply waved a hand towards a corner with a small laundry basket. "Will you be going to sleep while I take of these?"

"Yes," she said, noticing my familiar way of speaking to her and not seeming to like it but choosing not to comment on it. "I shall expect you to have my outfit prepared for me in the morning."

"At what time should I wake you?" I ask her, gathering together her discarded raiment.

She took a second to consider this before finally settling on, "Dawn."

"When this task is completed, is it acceptable that I familiarize myself with the castle?" I paused at the doorway, waiting for a response.

"Hmm. It will be helpful if you know the way around if I have any errands for you. Very well," she deigned to respond to me as she crawled into her bed and settled herself beneath the blankets.

"And one more thing before you sleep, Master," I continue. "Where is it I shall be sleeping?"

Without another word she waved her hand to a spot against the wall a few feet from the bed that was covered in straw. I couldn't contain the laughter the whole situation had been drawing from me, and my mirth echoed through the room as I shut the door behind me.

Still chuckling I made my way down, following from memory the path we had taken up to the tower dormitories earlier in reverse. Ordering a Servant to do the laundry, speaking to them in such a disrespectful fashion, even expecting one to sleep on a pile of straw like a dog, and all without a command spell to enforce any of these ridiculous orders? I can't help but imagine some of the Servants' I've interacted with in the past responses to this ridiculous situation and the very thought is enough to make me burst out into giggles again. The very thought of someone like Gilgamesh or Cu Chulainn in an apron washing a girl's underwear…

Alright, I guess it's not really that funny, considering that if such a situation actually were to occur the girl would probably be forced to endure a horrible death for daring to do presume so much.

At the base of the tower I came across what appeared to be two more students, a male and a female. The boy was posed extravagantly, wearing a black coat with a frilly white shirt, one arm on his hip and the other in the air holding a rose next to his face. The girl was in what appeared t o be the standard uniform with a brown cloak and declaring something about soufflés. That caught my interest. I've always meant to learn how to bake those.

"I would be glad to have some," the boy assured the girl grandly.

"Really?" she said, her hands clasped in front of her in maidenly innocence. I almost felt sorry for the poor girl, seeing as this guy obviously some kind of lothario.

"Really, Katie," he assured her. "I cannot tell lies in front of your eyes." It was a good line, but seemed a little to scripted for my tastes. I continue past them without a second glance.

The boy apparently recognized me because once my back was turned I heard him call out, "You. Aren't you the commoner that Louise summoned?"

"So it seems," I tell him, not sparing him a glance. I had already placed him as one of the students that had been laughing at Louise when she had called me forth. Probably better not to get to friendly with him until I see what her stance is.

After all, no point in making friends if it turns out they're bitter enemies and I'll have to kill him.

"Hmph," he snorted disdainfully, and I can just imagine him striking a pose for the on looking enraptured girl. "How rude. It must be a terrible shame to have something as boorish as a commoner for a familiar."

"Still better than a giant mole," I call back to him, and then turned a corner while he was still in the midst of sputtering in outrage over my taunt. I only had to be polite to one person in this castle, and she was currently asleep in her bed. It was another two turns before I found what I was looking for. In front of me, quietly running a feather duster over a series of vases, was a maid.

"Excuse me," I said from behind her, and the girl jumped in surprise. Though it wasn't my intention I seemed to have snuck up on her. When she whirled, she came face to chest with me, and her eyes widened as she squeaked slightly while she glanced up to finally see my face. "Excuse me," I said again, giving her a gentle and disarming smile. "Would you happen to know where I can find a washboard?"

*Scene Break*

It was past midnight as I stood on the highest spear of the highest tower of what I now knew to be a magical academy. The moon was a bright crescent in the sky that was unnaturally clear compared to the skies of my home world.

Yes, my home world, not my homeland.

It seems that once more a summoning spell shows no respect for the common laws of time and space. Is this my fate I wonder? To constantly be summoned to impossible times and places and bound to serve small precocious magi? My future self, after my death, with Tohsaka Rin, my current self with this Louise Valliere, there definitely seemed to be some kind of trend forming here. Still, I am not Archer, nor is Louise Rin. Archer was a bitter, cynical, and disillusioned version of me, and while I definitely might have developed my own cynical side, I still haven't reached the point where I have any inclination to discard the beliefs that I have taken as my own. And Louise, for all the physical similarities like size and hairstyle, she is definitely no Rin. Rin at least had an integral understanding of what it meant to have summoned a Servant. She had been a driven, intelligent, and battle oriented magi of proud lineage, one who knew the responsibilities of her power and was strove above all else to maintain herself in a manner which she could be proud of.

So far Louise seemed to be more along the lines of a spoiled self absorbed little princess who obviously had views of what was appropriate that conflicted with the harsh light of reality.

The maid, whose name turned out to be Siesta, had been quite willing to speak with me as she showed me where the cleaning supplies for the castle were kept. Though she appeared to originally have been intimidated by my size and the fact that I had been summoned, she quickly warmed up to me as I treated her politely and familiarly. She had even stayed behind to help me wash a bit of the pile of clothes I was working my way through. That proved to be a godsend seeing as I had no idea how to use the old fashion hand washer she had provided me with. Still, she couldn't linger long and quickly had to return to her own duties.

But while she was helping me she did manage to answer many of the questions that I had about my current whereabouts. She was also able to explain to me the difference between nobles and commoners. The nobles were the equivalent of the aristocracy of medieval Europe, and they were apparently every one of them magi. They practiced their arts freely and quite often without regard to the consequences, and looked down upon and subjugated those who could not freely command the powers of magic like they did. They were for the most part flighty, self absorbed, and arrogant bastards.

For someone such as me, who was raised to practice my arts in secret and with great respect to the power which I wield, the very thought of them left a bad taste in my mouth.

Still, this was where I was summoned to. Best make the most of it I suppose.

As I prepared to go inside, my ears caught the faintest sound of flapping wings. With a frown, I focused my magic to my ears and eyes. The technique was called reinforcing, and was typically used to strengthen either foreign objects or one's own body. Few of the magi in my home world practiced it much, most rather spending their time on more productive magics, but for me reinforcement was one of my most necessary and best skills. Consequentially, I had mastered it to the point that I was even able to affect my own senses with it, sharpening my sight and hearing to superhuman levels.

I'd done some experimenting with doing the same to my sense of smell, but so far those experiments had ended with abject and humiliating failures that I'd really rather not talk about.

With my enhanced senses I was able to track the source of the noise. Some hundred yards above me and in front of me was the girl and the dragon that I had picked out of the crowd at my summoning before. The girl was exceptionally thin and had the brightest blue hair I'd ever seen. Grasped firmly in one hand was a long crooked staff, vaguely reminiscent of a shepherd's crook. Even in the dark I could feel her curious gaze upon me.

I raised my hand in greeting to the distant watcher, and she seemed mildly startled that I had managed to pick her out at such a distance in the dark. My own form was lit from below by the lights of the castle which should have even further narrowed my night vision. Almost reluctantly, the girl raised her own staff in response to my greeting.

With a final look at the girl, I turned my attention back to the castle below me, and then stepped off the ledge. I plummeted nearly eight stories down, the wind tugging at my clothing and whipping my semi short hair around my ears as I waited patiently for my feet to strike the ground. With another round of reinforcement in my legs, I landed easily. As I turned nonchalantly to enter the tower that I had been standing on top before from the base, the rush of wind beneath powerful wings buffeted me suddenly. With a curios glance I saw the dragon and it's rider who had before been nearly a hundred yards away now no more than a dozen. The beasts powerful wings pumped hard, pulling itself out of what had no doubt been a very fast and hard dive. The rider grasped the dragons neck tightly, in order to keep herself from being thrown from her mount. Her eyes were locked on mine, and this time I could clearly see shock on them. What on earth….?

Ah.

"Were you trying to save me?" I asked her with a smile.

In a voice almost too quiet for me to hear, even with my reinforced ears she answered, "Yes."

She had seen me step off the ledge and probably assumed that I was going to kill myself, and had gallantly swooped down in an effort to try and keep me from splattering all over the ground. She had not expected for me to be able to take the fall so easily and without injury. I could see the question in her eyes as she tried to figure out just how I had done so.

"That's quite kind of you. Though it wasn't really necessary, I thank you anyway," I turn to face her completely and bow to her, my smile even wider now. The dragon settled to the ground and let loose a soft trill like purr as the rider dismounted. She was short, almost as short as Louise.

"How?" she ask. It took me a second to figure out she was trying to ask and I spoke up to confirm before answering.

"How did I survive?" She didn't respond verbally, just gave the briefest lowering of her head in a nod. I give her a crooked smile. I had managed to pick up by now that most of the students who knew of my existence had assumed that I was what they called a 'commoner', someone who couldn't use magic. For the first time since my arrival here, I reveal to another that that presumption was wrong. "Though nowhere near as flashy as the spells I've see around here, my own magic is nothing to scoff at either." When her eyes widen as she realizes what I'm implying, I give her a brief wink before turning around and walking back into the tower. Though she seemed a pleasant enough person, just like before it wouldn't do for me to get to involved with anyone until I know just where they stood in relation to my Master.

Like I said, it'd be a shame to have to kill them after growing to like them.

*Scene Break*

_That night, Louise dreamed of swords and battle. She wasn't sure why, but it played out before her like actors on a stage. Of these two actors, one a man in blue with a red lance and the other in black and white carrying what looked like rolled parchment, she suddenly realized that she recognized one. Though younger, the one without the lance was the commoner she had summoned earlier, Emiya Shirou. Why was she dreaming about something as unimportant as her familiar, she wondered to herself, before dismissing the thought._

_It was a dream after all. No doubt brought upon stress of her abysmal failure. Even in sleep it haunted her!_

_Still, the battle was pretty pathetic. Her young familiar was thrown through the air and into a strange building, his weapon shattered by a strong blow from the lancer. _

_And as the lancer closed, his weapon which even in her dreams sent chills down her spine from the sheer evil it seemed to emit, a glow from behind her fallen familiar lit the dream scape._

_And from that glow came a girl._

_She was like no girl Louise had ever seen. There were no frills, no lace, no dress of courtly stature on her frame. She was garbed in armor and blue, and there was no doubt in Louise's dream mind that this was no commoner. The stance, the bearing, the demeanor of the girl in blue was enough to almost send dream Louise to her knees in deference._

_For some reason, the posture of the girl in blue reminded Louise of something. It was the same posture that her own familiar had shown when she had performed her failed summon._

_Ah, dream Louise thought to herself. No doubt the shame of her failure had caused her to even dream of summoning. _

_In a blur of motion, the girl in blue drove the red lancer away from her familiar. Standing there in the moonlight, with the regal air of a drawn sword about her, the girl in blue looked down upon her familiar and spoke._

"_Servant Saber. Upon your summoning I have come forth. I ask of you, are you my Master?"_

_The same words her familiar had spoken to her that very same day not just minutes before she had slept. She truly must be troubled if so much of her day is being mixed in to her dreams._

_And so Louise slept, and dreamed of swords and battle._

_It would not be the last time she did so._


	2. To be Drawn: The Second night

The Hill of Swords: Second night.

Author's note: Alright, this chapter went on way longer than I intended. I've made it to the obligatory Gauche fight. I intend to go on longer, but I do have a few other pieces I'm still working on. Wouldn't do to ignore them just for the new thing! I've been overwhelmed by the sheer number of reviews I received, and I gotta say, I'm kinda getting stoked from all the praise. The next chapter might take a while, but there's a really good chance it's gonna come.

It was precisely dawn when I woke my master up. Placing one hand on her shoulder while standing by her bedside, I shook her gently while speaking in a normal tone of voice, "Master, it's time to get up."

I have to hand it to her: she looked absolutely adorable while waking. It looked like she had all the morning graces of Rin: that is, absolutely none. She mumbled something that vaguely sounded like "murgle" while sitting up and rubbing her drooping eyelids, before letting loose both a jaw dislocating yawn and a back cracking overhand stretch simultaneously. Her white nightshirt drooped on one shoulder cutely.

"I've laid out your garments over there on the table, Master," I tell her, backing away to stand by the spot I had slept in myself. My own sleep stance, that of sitting back against the wall with one leg up to support my arms and head wasn't meant to be a comfortable one, and it had taken me more than a few good stretches before I had worked the kinds out. But it is one of the best ready stances for sudden waking, and I still haven't learned just what Louise's stances are when it comes to enemies. For all I knew she's some kind of exiled princess with endless amounts of assassins after her. Or, considering my own brief interaction with her, she could have just pissed off one of her classmates enough to the point where they might decide to try and pull a prank on her or something.

"Huh," she managed to articulate, the grunt sounding as much as gratitude as a question. It looks like she still hadn't quite managed to place me. I don't blame her. It took me a while to get used to my own Servant's presence immediately after I summoned her.

"I wasn't certain if it would be appropriate for me to select undergarments, so I refrained from doing so at the moment," I continued, enjoying throwing all this at her while she was still too confused to respond. "Nor was I certain if I should prepare anything else. I still don't know the schedule of this school, so I wasn't certain if it I should have prepared tea, or if everyone eats together."

"Wha?" she said. It looked like her brain was finally beginning to catch up to her. Better make my escape before she gathers herself together enough to make any more demeaning orders. I swear by Heaven's Feel if she tries to make me do something as stupid as dressing her, I'm going to whack her upside the head, and the really wouldn't be an appropriate Master/Servant interaction. Well, sometimes it would be, but I don't think she's quite ready for that kind of informality. She still seems to be under the impression that when I call myself a Servant that I mean I'm a maid.

"Very well then, Master. I shall leave so that you might have the privacy you require. I shall await you in the courtyard," I tell her, making it sound like my actions were all quite reasonable and not giving her a moment to respond I opened the door, sketched her a polite bow, and then exited quickly before she could get a word in, shutting the door behind me firmly.

The trip down to the courtyard was quicker than it was last night. During my period with the maid, Siesta, I had gotten a brief description of which buildings housed which facilities, and after completing Louise's laundry I had made certain to check each one out personally. I also made sure to pass through as many of the hallways as I could, and had managed to compile a somewhat sketchy but workable mental map of the school. I can double check them later in order to asses them for defensibility if I need to, but so far it doesn't look like I'm going to be requiring too much violence right away, so I let myself slack off a little in that regards. I think the more important thing for me to worry about now is catching my summoner up on the important protocols of our relationship, but it'd be more appropriate for me to do that when we had plenty of time.

As I waited for Louise to finally put herself together enough to be seen in public, I leaned back against the wall besides the door to the dormitory tower, crossing my arm and propping one leg up. I let my eyes drift shut, though I made certain to take note of the noises surrounding me, making sure to identify each one and rank them according to their probably threat level. When the two particular ones drew near me, I let one of my eyes crack open so I could identify just who was approaching.

"Well, well," one of my approachers said. It was the chesty redhead from the day before, the one who had made it a point mock Louise at my summoning. "Well, if it isn't the familiar commoner that Louise 'summoned'." She raised one hand to her mouth, mockingly covering up the smirk that she was wearing. "Tell me, how much is she paying you for this ruse? You are just some commoner she snuck in to fool everyone when she failed her spell, aren't you?" She let loose another set of mocking laughter.

I eye balled her for a second, before ignoring her completely and turning to the second figure who had accompanied her. I gave the second figure a warm smile. "Well good morning to you, noble rider. Did you sleep well?" The blue haired girl, the one with the dragon who had last night tried to save me was nearly overshadowed by the much taller and fuller figured redhead. Her staff was held securely in one hand, and the other held up a small book, which she had her face buried in. Even as she nodded a response to my question, her eyes continued to dart back and forth, tracing the texts she was reading.

The redhead didn't seem to like my obvious blow off, but her ire was overshadowed by surprise at my familiar greeting to her companion. "Tabitha, do you know this commoner?" The blue haired girl nodded again, and for a brief second her eyes left the page and glanced at me. The regarded me coolly, taking in my tall lank form. I wonder what she thought of my outfit? The summon had dragged me from off a busy street, so I was wearing simple blue jeans, running shoes, and an un-tucked red button down shirt. It didn't seem to out of place style wise, but I'm sure the jeans probably seemed unusual to them. I doubt they had denim here. The girl, Tabitha, regarded me briefly, no doubt remembering last night's encounter herself, and my casual mention of my own magic capabilities. Despite the redheads continued use of the word 'commoner', which in this place denoted those unable to use magic, the bluette made no move to correct her companion, and instead simply resumed her reading, and began walking away in the direction of the dining hall. The redhead shot me one last look, this one more curious than disdainful before hurrying to catch up with her quieter companion, already peppering her with questions.

"Familiar," I strident voice called out beside me. Well, it looks like Louise has finally decided to show up. She nearly burst out of the door, glancing around the courtyard quickly while trying to locate me. I spoke up beside her, causing her to jump and whirl in shock.

"Here, Master." She eyed me, and I kicked off the wall easily, allowing my arms to unfold and swing down by my side. "And where shall we be heading now?"

She eyed me briefly, apparently once more taking displeasure at the familiar form of my address for her, but also noticing my free use of the word 'Master' and getting confused. I could tell if she couldn't quite decide if I was being appropriately deferential for her tastes, or inappropriately familiar for her tastes. Either way, she answered my question. "To the dining hall. It's nearly time for breakfast to be served. You mentioned last night familiarizing yourself with the castle. Have you done so?"

She set off without waiting for me to respond, obviously expecting me to follow. I did so as I answered. "I have learned all the places which aren't deemed private or protected. I have also learned the majority of the hallways. I'd like to go through them again during the day to see if I've missed any details, but I have enough knowledge to navigate with."

She nodded in approval. "Good. As for your performance this morning," she continued, and I grinned slightly where she couldn't see it. Good, she picked up the fact that I had been leading her on. Looks like my Master is a sharp one. "In the future, you will set out all of my outfit, even the undergarments. I have no specific tastes, and if the time comes for me to wear more appropriate ones I shall choose them myself, seeing as a commoner would have no knowledge of what is appropriate. There is no need for any food or drink to be ready; those are all taken care of at the dining hall." She was addressing each of the concerns I spoke of while she was still half asleep. Good. An eye for appropriate details. "Also, while a servant is around a noble will not dress themselves. You will not leave the room until I am appropriately attired," she ordered.

Here is where I broke in. "Some would consider it inappropriate for a male to be present while a woman is changing," I said dryly.

"You are not a male!" she declared hotly, turning to glare at me. Oh? Last time I checked… "You are a familiar. It is no more inappropriate for a familiar to be around me while changing then it would be for a dog."

My eyes narrowed, and my expression lost its cheerfulness. "Is that so, Master?"

She seemed surprised by my sudden coldness. So far despite every unreasonable order she had given me, and every abuse she had heaped on me, I had remained a cheerful if somewhat sardonic demeanor. The fact that I was even capable of taking offense to something she said seemed completely unfathomable for her.

She really did have no idea just what she had done when she had summoned me. It looks like my explanation might have to be a bit pointed.

Still, she managed to get a handle on her surprise, and moved onto being indignant over my response. "I will not have a familiar take that tone of voice with me. I was going to allow you to dine with me in the hall, but now you will not be eating at all." My expression did not change at all at this imperious declaration.

"As you order, Master."

*Scene Break*

Naturally, I ignored that order completely. The moment she stormed off into the dining hall while leaving me outside with the rest of the familiars, I left myself for the kitchen. It was a quick walk, seeing as it had to be right next to the dining hall in order to ensure that the nobles had their food hot. And it was on that brief trip that I had a pleasant surprise.

"Ah! Mr. Shirou," Siesta called out to me brightly, as she bustled with quick efficiency, stacking food onto trays and trays on to carts. "Good morning!"

"Good morning to you too, Siesta," I smiled at her. She beamed up at me happily, having moved past the point where she found my size intimidating.

"What brings you here today, Mr. Shirou?" she asked, setting aside her task and turning to face me, her hands clasped in front of her skirt in a show of deference.

"Please, just call me Shirou," I assured her. "And it seems that I have displeased my Master somewhat and have been left to fend for myself in regards to food."

"That's just terrible!" she declared, looking affronted by my enforced fast. Her face set itself into a pretty frown, and she put one hand up to her face as she contemplated my predicament.

Sure enough, no more than five minutes later I had been introduced to the chef, a strong looking man with a healthy disrespect for the nobility and a strong sense of sympathy for someone being put out upon by one. It took no more than a pout by Siesta, and I was eating a fine stew with warm bread for breakfast.

It pays to be in good with the help.

I ate quickly finishing the stew fast, and with a nod of thanks at the chef returned to the courtyard with the rest of the familiars. I worked more slowly on the bread, taking my time to savor it whilst I assumed a leaning position against the cold stone of the castle. It really was fine bread.

It was so good that I almost didn't notice the large form that approached me from my left. With a quick glance in the direction to see just who it was that was trying to sneak up on me, I paused, and then looked over the one trying to get close without me noticing.

Well. The dragon from before certainly seemed much bigger up close.

The great blue beast was beside me, its body slung low to the ground, neck fully outstretched, and its head only a foot away from me. When it realized that I had noticed its approach, it froze completely. Just what was it doing here? Was it about to attack me? I was under the impression that familiars were quite docile and good natured. No more than six feet away from me an enormous serpent was coiled right next to a bunny without making any effort to try and eat it. Same as with an owl and a mouse, the two actually cuddling against each other with complete disregard for the food chain.

Had the girl, Tabitha, perhaps ordered her familiar to attack me when there were no other witnesses? If so, the dragon was doing a poor job of it. It was just standing there, frozen in what seemed almost like panic, its eyes locked on…

Wait a sec. I lifted the remaining bread in my hand to my mouth to take a bite of it. Sure enough, the dragon's eyes followed the movement, a steady unblinking look. I waved the bread gently in front of it, and its entire neck and head moved so that its eyes could stay locked on the last of the morsel.

"So," I said, a little uncertain. "You want a bite?" The dragon's eyes instantly darted up to my face, and it began to nod its head enthusiastically. It was so enthusiastic I could actually trace the waves of the heads motion as they caused ripples in its neck. It was strange, and a bit disturbing.

It was also more than a little adorable.

With a bemused chuckle, I tore one final bite from the bread and then held it out to the beast on my open palm. It let loose a happy trill, its eyes closed in pleasure before opening its mouth. A long red tongue darted out and wrapped around the bread in a prehensile manner before snapping back into its mouth. The dragon sat up, sitting back on its haunches like a cat, its eyes closed happily as shook its wings in joy while it ate. I laughed again. It finished its meal, and then looked at me closely. Its head darted down, and it started to nudge me quickly all over.

"Hey! Settle down! I don't have any more food, I promise," I let loose an unmanly squawk as the searching head managed to find a ticklish spot on my ribs and rubbed there furiously. The dragon brought its head directly in front of mine, meeting my eyes hopefully. "Seriously. That was all I brought," I protested, holding my empty hands up to show that yes I really wasn't hiding food from it.

The beast let loose a sad warble and collapsed to the ground, seemingly crushed by the hopelessness of the world. I grinned as I slid down beside it, reaching out tentatively to rub the ridges of its eyes. "There, there. It's not that bad. I'm sure your master will bring you some food soon enough." My soothing words, or maybe just my rubbing fingers, caused it to close its eyes again and let loose another warble of contentment.

I cocked my head to the side. "You know, boy, I always figured that dragons would be a bit more intimidating." It shot me an agrieved look, and then purposely angled its head so it was looking away from me, obviously offended. I noticed that it still kept its head in range of my fingers though.

"Now, don't be like that," I chided getting a kick out of interacting with something so big and so legendary in my homeland. "I take it back! You're quite noble, a great being of majesty, so awesome in presence that I can barely keep myself from bowing in worship, boy," I assure it. This seems to soothe the beast's ego, but it still shot me an offended look. Now why is… Ah. I see. "I'm sorry. You're a girl, aren't you?" The dragon nodded again. "Well, I should have noticed that right away, seeing as how lovely you are." I lay it on a little thick, but the dragon seems to eat it up. It closed its eyes in happiness and lifted its head to nuzzle my chest again, nearly knocking me off the wall with its enthusiasm.

She finally clamped down on the back of my shirt, and lifted me bodily into the air. "Hey now!" I protested the man handling, er, dragon handling. Ignoring my cries, she walked in a circle three times, still holding me up in the air before finally laying down on her side, resting her head against her tail creating an encircled space and depositing me in the place, resting against her scaled chest. Before I could properly move, she then put a wing over me, effectively enclosing me from all sides. She let loose a soft trill again, and then apparently fell asleep on the spot.

Well, this was quite possibly the weirdest thing that has ever happened to me.

*Scene Break*

"Familiar," a voice called out stridently, waking me from the half doze I'd found myself slipping into. "Familiar, attend me," it repeated. It was dark and warm where I was. Why was it so dark again?

Oh yeah. The warm wall of dragon surrounding me was a surprisingly comfortable place to rest. I stretched slightly before trying to nudge the dragon to wake her up so I could move about.

The dragon gave something that sounded like a snore and ignored me.

"The damn dog," I could hear Louise mutter. "Running off like this. It seems the food wasn't enough punishment. I'll have him whipped for this…"

Yeah, right.

"In here, Master," I called out. I heard a sudden 'eep' and a few gasps.

"The dragon talked!" a surprised male voice exclaimed. I rolled my eyes.

"Is that you, familiar?" Louise called, sounding hesitant.

"Yes, Master, it certainly is," I reported dryly. The dragon I was laying against began to stir as all the noises around her finally began reach her sleep addled head. It let loose a yawn, and briefly squirmed around, before seeming to suddenly remember I was lying against it.

"W-w-w-what on earth are you doing in there?" Louise asked, sounding completely baffled by my circumstances.

"I seem to have made a friend," was the only way I could really think to explain it. The dragon finally got around to waking all the way up, and shifted her wings. At last I could see the sky again. Surrounding us were quite a few of the students who had apparently finally finished their meals and were now once more gathered around me and my summoner, enjoying the spectacle. I waved sardonically at a gaping Louise while the dragon remembered who I was and that she liked me and began nuzzling me again, knocking me flat to the ground.

"T-T-T-Tabitha!" Louise demanded, rounding on one of the spectators. "What is your familiar doing to mine!" It seemed that the redhead and the bluette seemed to spend a lot of time together, as the two were once more in each other's company. The redhead seemed as astounded as the rest by this strange development, gaping along with the rest of the crowd.

Tabitha just kept on reading.

I finally got the dragon to calm down by scratching it once more on the eye ridge. It closed its eyes and began to warble continuously, apparently composing a song in delight. Either that or giving me instructions on where to scratch.

"Ah man. I thought the dragon could talk," the same voice from earlier said, the speaker himself indistinguishable in the crowd.

"Don't be stupid. Everyone knows that dragons can't talk," a female voice corrected him.

The dragon turned her head to glare in the direction of the speakers, and then dismissed them as unimportant in comparison to her eye scratching.

"Your familiar is quite affectionate," I inform Tabitha. The girl just glanced up once, looked from me to the affectionate beast, and then started walking.

"Come," was all she said, and the dragon reluctantly parted. As she walked by, the dragon made sure to brush her entire length against me, much like the way an affectionate cat would. Of course, since the dragon was roughly the size of a mini-van plus tail, it knocked me flat on my butt once again. With a brief sigh, I righted myself once more, and brushing dirt off I moved to stand beside Louise, who was still gaping in the direction of the dragon.

"You know," I said casually following her gaze. "When I woke up today, the last thing that crossed my mind that would happen would be being abducted by a giant flying lizard. I honestly have no idea how to respond to that," I admitted.

"Yeah," she agreed, apparently so distracted by the improbability of the event that she completely forgot to be mad or haughty.

"So where to now, Master," I asked, bringing her back to the present. She shook her head briefly, causing her hair to fly around her like a pink waterfall as she gathered her thoughts, and then turned back to me.

"There are no classes today," she informed me, and then began walking off, expecting me to follow obediently. I followed, walking beside her and a bit behind. "There will be a small gathering where students who just summoned are supposed to open communication with their familiars instead."

"Good. There are a number of things we need to talk about." This seemed like the perfect time to clear up a few minor misunderstandings. Like the one where she can get away with trying to starve me and having me whipped.

"Familiar," she snapped at me crossly, "Don't presume to use that tone of voice on me, you dog!"

"Servant," I correct her, interrupting her. The suddenness of my interruption completely threw her off track. "The correct term for me is 'Servant', not 'familiar'."

"Dog!" she snarled at me clenching her little hands into fists and arching her back like a cat that just got rubbed backwards. "You don't talk back to me! You are my familiar and I'll…"

"Servant," and all the cheer congeniality went out of me like candle being snuffed by a wind. My voice was as cold as ice now, and my posture was predatory. "You will address me by my proper title, Master, just as I address you."

"W-w-w-what?" she stuttered, apparently so angry at my presumption that she lost the ability to form coherent sentences.

"There are number of issues with summoning humans that you seem to be completely unaware of," I continue. "And if this partnership is going to work, then you need to learn just what those issues are."

"Partnership?" she shrieked. "It seems I've been too lax with you! You are my familiar and you will obey!"

Before what promised to be a completely unproductive fight could properly start, our discussion was interrupted.

"Well, well," a familiar voice drawled out. Both mine and Louise's heads, which had been drawing closer and closer as our argument got fiercer, whipped to the side to address the one who interrupted us.

"WHAT?" we both snapped at the familiar redhead in complete unison. The startled redhead actually flinched backwards in surprise. She recovered quickly.

"What's this? Not only is your familiar disobedient, but addressing a noble in such a manner?" she commented, her hand coming up to once more conceal a vicious smirk in such a way that it didn't conceal it at all. "The commoner demanding more money to put up with faking being your familiar?"

"What?" Louise ground out, still enraged by our argument, but not understanding the reference the redhead was making. I filled her in.

"She thinks you faked the summoning by causing an explosion, and that I'm a paid actor you got for the job," I tell her, mastering my temper much faster than Louise could. I've got experience cooling myself down before I go overboard. It's a valuable skill.

"That is ridiculous!" Louise snapped, and now she was angry at the redhead instead. "I performed the summons and this just showed up," at 'this' she waved at me furiously. "Kirche, have you been going around spreading this lie?" she demanded.

"Okay, before I get distracted," I interrupted, and the two turned to look at me, the redhead who was apparently named Kirche curious and Louise still angry but unable to decide which of the two of us to take it out on. "What the hell is that?" I pointed down at the very large lizard that appeared to have its tail on fire. It was staring up at me with wide eyes, and let loose a little croak when it saw the attention was on it.

"Oh? Never seen a salamander before, commoner?" Kirche said crouching down to tickle the lizards chin. It croaked happily, but never took its eyes off of me.

"Is that what it is?" I know it was a bad mark on my attention span to so suddenly pull my attention away from the argument me and my Master were having, but it was such an unusual looking thing that I just couldn't help it. Magical creatures like this and the dragon were quite rare back in my home world. I crouched down too so that I could look at it better myself.

Kirche seemed to like the fact that she was getting attention, even if only through proxy of her familiar. I reached out gently, and stroked it lightly across the eye ridge like I did with the dragon earlier. It croaked happily. "Yes. As my contracted familiar, it is naturally completely obedient to its master," she said, taking the opportunity to get a shot in at Louise.

Whatever response Louise was going to give was cut off as the salamander quite suddenly jumped me.

"Wha-!" I have got out, startled by the lizards sudden move when it began croaking happily and licking my face like a puppy. The suddenness of the action derailed the argument in its tracks and now both of the redheads were staring at me in surprise.

"What is it with you and reptiles?" Louise demanded, sounding frustrated by the second time today her Servant had been molested by affectionate scaly things.

"You know, I honestly don't know," I said, equally confused by the action. The salamander kept licking me, so I figured I'd be polite and keep scratching its eye ridge. "This never happened before. Maybe it has something to do with the contract?" Maybe I was summoned to a class after all. I didn't receive any of the usual information that a summons was supposed to impart to me, so maybe I really did have a class that I was simply unaware of. If so, then it's definitely not one of the ones I'm familiar with. None of the seven I know of has anything about being beloved of lizards.

"Well, Flame seems to like you," Kirche said finally. Understatement of the year. "That means you can't be all bad, even if you are a commoner." She turned and walked away, snapping her finger. "Come, Flame."

The affectionate red thing gave me one last lick and a croak and then scampered off of me to follow its master. I had to duck backwards to dodge its flaming tail as it did so.

Louise and I took a moment to try and get over the strangeness of the event that just happened.

"What were we talking about again?" Louise finally said, still staring at the departing duo and scratched her head as she tried to remember.

"We were fighting I think," I supplied to her.

"Ah!" she clapped a fist into her palm. "That's right!" She turned to me picked up just where she left off. "You are my familiar, and you will obey!" The order was imperious, but much of the heat had been sapped from it.

"I am your Servant," I correct her again. The sudden and strange interlude had managed to help me cool my temper as well, so I spoke in an even voice. "And obedience is strictly optional. So far I have been obedient so as to spare you further embarrassment in front of your peers till the opportunity arose where I could inform you of what a human summons involves, but if you continue treat me in such a manner then you will pay the price of trampling on my pride." There is no threat in my voice. I am simply stating a fact.

"There is no difference! A familiar is a familiar!" now she seemed frustrated both by my refusal to obey unquestioningly and my constant correction of my title. "Now bring me tea while I contemplate how to punish you for your insolence!" She pointed to the side, gesturing towards one of the maids pushing a cart like the ones Siesta had been loading earlier.

"Get it yourself," I tell her, and walk away. I don't know if it was because she was too shocked by my complete dismissal of her order, or if she just thought I was getting tea, but she didn't follow.

*Scene Break*

I used my sudden and unexpected (by my Master at least) free time to wonder amongst the students, trying to take their measure as best I could. The students themselves were mostly unremarkable. Their features were for the most part European in nature, though every once in a while some aspect of one of them did stand out more than other. There seemed to be a greater variety of hair color for some reason. There were a variety of different shades of red ranging from the very light like Louise to dark and vibrant like Kirche. There was a great deal of blonds as well, though the spectrum there ranged from platinum to borderline brunette.

There was great variety amongst the familiars too. Though many of them seemed to be nothing more than standard fare for back home, cats, dogs, and birds, there were a few that stood out a great deal more than others. The dragon and the salamander were among the most obvious of these examples, but the giant mole was worth mentioning.

As well as the giant floating eyeball I was currently in a staring contest with.

"Okay. Seriously now. What the hell are you supposed to be?" I complained to it. It blinked at me. When an eye that big blinks, trust me, you notice.

"It's a bugbear," a voice from behind me answered. I glanced over my shoulder to find Siesta behind me again, carrying a tray with what looked like cheesecake, or some kind of pie on it.

"A bugbear?" I asked skeptically, turning back to look at it. "What part of it resembles either a bug or a bear? It's a freaking floating eyeball." The eye didn't seem to take offense to my blunt assessment, but it did turn away and started to float off. I turned my attention to Siesta to find her giggling into her hand at my response. "Working hard?" I asked her with a smile. She beamed up at me.

"Oh yes," she agreed happily. "Forgive my rudeness, but I don't have time to chat for long. I have to deliver this cake." She indicated with a nod towards the table the pastry was destined for and I nodded in response.

"I'll accompany you," I tell her, and moved into step beside her.

"Oh no," she said, though she didn't sound displeased by my offer. "I mean this is supposed to be a time for you and your master to get to know each other. I'd hate to intrude." Though she said that, she didn't make any further attempt to chase me off.

"My Master and I are having a disagreement into the nature of our partnership," I inform her dryly. "I left to give her enough time to cool down before we resume our conversation." And resume it we shall.

"A disagreement?" she asked, sounding troubled. I could take a guess why. I'm pretty sure that when commoners and nobles disagree, it generally turns out poorly for the commoner.

"Nothing to worry about," I assure her, as we reach the table. She set about serving the two, a girl with long blond hair curled elegantly and a boy whom I remember from last night. A large mole sat half on the boys lap and he stroked it adoringly. A small frog rested in the girl's palm. When the boy requested another tea from Siesta she agreed politely and moved to fulfill the request. I moved to follow when once more the boy spoke to my back.

"You again. The boorish commoner that Louise the Zero summoned," the boy said to my back, with the tone of someone who was about to do something cruel in order to impress a girl. Louise the Zero? So my master has a title? It sounded rather ominous. "Off to serve you mistress like the plebian you are?"

Well then. A childish taunt thrown at the back of someone he believed wouldn't stand up for themselves. Too bad for him, he left himself way too wide open.

"You again. The self absorbed fop from last night," I responded, turning around in time to catch his eyes bugging out over my rather direct insult. "Chatting up another woman like you were last night? What's the matter, the girl in the brown cape's soufflés not good enough for you?"

"Y-y-you! How dare you address a noble in such a fashion, commoner?" he demanded, seemingly genuinely shocked that I'd put him in his place so willingly. "I shall have you…"

Whatever it was that he was going to have me do was interrupted by the blond girl.

"Guiche," she interrupted, her brow furrowing. "What is he talking about?"

The boy, Guiche I suppose suddenly looked a lot less concerned about me and more with mending the fence I had just kicked in. "Nothing, Montmorency. The commoner is merely attempting to slander my good name." He leaned in close, taking the blond girl, Montmorency I suppose, by the hand and gazing deep into her eyes. "After all. I…"

"Cannot tell lies in front of your eyes?" I supplied for him, causing him to twitch. I turned to the blond girl who looked confused. "Yeah, he used that line on the girl from last night. Katie I think her name was."

Now the girl was looking far less confused and far more upset. The hand not holding the frog began to clench and her eyes were definitely narrow as she turned back to the stuttering Guiche. "Lies, all lies," Guiche proclaimed, holding that rose to his face while looking aggrieved at the injustice of facing such base accusations. I noticed something from the corner of my eye as he once more reached forward to rest his hand on the now shaking fist in front of him. "Why would I need another when I already have one whose beauty dwarfs even that of the morning star?" It almost seemed to work in calming the girl down. I guess she was susceptible to flattery.

Naturally, I can't let this fire blow out. I was having way too much fun one upping the little brat. And luckily for me, a whole bucket of gas was walking over behind this Guiche's unsuspecting back.

"Well, maybe I was mistaken," I admit, and despite the fact that he was probably still pissed at me starting this whole situation, Guiche shot me a grateful look. "We can ask the other girl herself. She's coming this way now," I pointed, and relished the way Guiche turned white as a ghost.

"What!" the blond screeched, hitting a fair number of octaves.

I gave a small satisfied grin and casually backed away far enough not to get caught up in the explosion that was about to happen. Right when the fireworks were about to start I caught sight of Siesta hurrying back with the tray of tea, looking worried by the commotion that had started in her absence. She saw me looking relaxed amongst the other students who had gathered to watch spectacle, and hurried over to me.

"What happened?" she asked breathlessly, distraught by the disruption to the calm tranquility she had left behind.

"That guy was caught two timing the two girls, and now he's trying to keep himself from getting slapped," I explain to her, and reach down to the table at my side, picking up a discarded tea cup. I casually filled it with the pot Siesta had kindly arrived with, and turned back just in time to witness Guiche getting his eye blackened and both girls marching away furiously.

I took a sip of the tea. Ah. At least these nobles had good taste.

As the crowd laughed at his misfortune, Guiche pulled himself off the ground and attempted to find some way to salvage his pride. His eyes settled on me, and I raised my cup to him mockingly.

"You," he said. "It appears that you are unaware of the etiquette whilst speaking with nobles," he accused me. The worry Siesta was displaying ratcheted up a notch. It probably never bodes well for commoners when a noble speaks to them like that.

"No," I answer casually. "I know them. I just choose not to practice them most of the time," I admit. The flippant answer causes the blonds eyes to narrow in impotent rage.

"Then perhaps a duel will help you understand the importance of displaying the appropriate respect when dealing with your betters," he proclaimed, pointing his rose at me dramatically.

I froze. Very casually I put down the teacup. I tilted my head to one side and began to dig into my ear with my pinky. My strange response seemed to confuse the posing blonde. When I finally pulled the finger from my ear I picked up the teacup again, and then met his eyes directly.

"I seemed to have had something stuck in my ear. Could you repeat that please?"

"A duel," he again proclaimed. "I can never forgive one who made two ladies cry."

"Then you're going to have trouble looking into a mirror the rest of your life," I couldn't resist the dig, and it got the crowd laughing. I didn't smile though. I continued. "Accepted. When and where?"

"I shall be waiting for you on the grounds in front of the vestry," he proclaimed and whirled away, all dramatic cape and wounded pride.

Siesta seemed beside herself in fear. "Shirou! What are you doing?" she demanded, her worry causing her voice to be shrill.

"Familiar!" another voice interrupted, and both me and the maid turned our head sideways. Thundering toward me was four and a half feet of pink haired feminine fury. "What do you think you're doing?" she demanded in a worried tone. "Come on!" she grabbed my hand and started to drag me away. Nearly losing my balance I managed to place the teacup on the table and give a farewell wave to Siesta, who was now on the verge of tears and clutching the silver plate to her chest like a shield.

"Where are we going again, Master?" I asked her trying to regain my balance.

"To Guiche. If we apologize fast enough maybe he'll forgive you!" she declared. I planted my feet and she nearly dislocated her arm when she suddenly found me as immovable as a mountain.

"I refuse that order, Master," I tell her solemnly.

"What? Don't you understand that he'll kill you?" she demanded, now looking more worried than mad.

I studied her silently for a moment, before speaking. "I was planning on explaining this to you, but perhaps showing you will suffice. But you should know, Master, trying to keep a Servant from battle is futile."

"Stop that!" she demanded, referring to my use of the title I had insisted on, nearly pulling her hair out from frustration. "Just what is this 'Servant' thing that you won't let go?"

"You're about to find out," I told her, and turned to make my way to the church where Guiche was no doubt waiting, posturing all the while. You know. There's something about that boy that I just don't like. He reminded me far too much of someone that I sincerely detested. I paused and turned to Louise, who had been following me, fuming at my disobedience and the fact that I was acting like I wasn't going to my death. "Master, are you overly fond of Guiche by any chance?"

"What?" she asked surprised by my sudden question, before getting a look on her face usually reserved for someone who just bit into a lemon. "No. He's an annoying skirt chaser."

"Good," I said, and smiled. I could tell the smile unnerved her. "I would hate to cause my Master discomfort when I kill him."

*Scene Break*

"I'm surprised you didn't run away," the fop said straight to my face. The crowd around us tittered in amusement.

"No more words," I tell him softly. "Begin the duel."

"Hmph," he said, and shrugged exaggeratedly. "So eager to fall?" he asked me. "Who am I to deny your request, commoner." The crowd was eating his acting up. I must have made a boring figure in comparison. For all his smiling and posturing, I responded only with a grim expression.

As he finally got around to doing something actually meant for battle, I took careful note of the crowd. I caught sight of Siesta, covering her mouth with both hands and looking so scared that she might become ill. I saw Louise as well, who looked resigned to not being able to stop what was about to happen. She might have tried to make more of an effort to stop it, but my casual declaration of my opponents death, combined with the reminders of all the times I tried to explain that my summoning was different from most seemed to have made her curious as to what was about to happen. I even caught sight of Kirche and Tabitha. Though there was something different about Tabitha this time.

She wasn't holding a book. Instead she had locked her eyes on me with a stare so intense it almost was palpable.

Only she had any inkling that something more than an uppity commoner getting a beat down was about to happen.

"My name is Guiche the Bronze. Therefore the bronze Golem, Valkyrie, shall be your opponent," he declared and from the place where a rose petal had fallen sprouted a tall suit of armor. A golem? And created so casually as well. Interesting. I had no idea what the capabilities of the magi of this world are, so to me this battle was more than just me defending my pride. This was a test to see how I stood in combat.

When the golem came at me, fist extended to deliver a painful blow to my diaphragm, I simply reinforced my arm, set my legs, and caught the punch bare fisted with my left hand without flinching.

"What?" the surprised nobleman said, completely shocked that I had managed to stop what must have been several hundred pounds of metal without giving an inch.

I said what would be both my first words of the battle, and my last. "I am the bone of my sword." I held my right hand to the side.

Trace on.

My own ability, crafted after countless hours of hard practice, molded and perfected so that only I would most likely ever be able to wield it. The ability to project the magic within me from my circuits into any shape I chose. And I chose swords.

Kanshou, the black falchion style Chinese blade, one of a pair forged centuries ago by a nameless husband and wife duo of blacksmiths, came into my hand, the yin-yang symbol on it gleaming in the light. Shocked cries emitted from the crowd, and without flinching I drew the blade across my body twice, returning my hand to the position it came from so fast it was a blur.

Too fast. I should not be able to move this fast, even with my reinforcing augmenting my ability to superhuman levels.

The runes inscribed on my left hand began to glow, and I felt magic not my own humming through my circuits. I see. It seems my earlier thought might have some truth to it. It seemed I had received a class upon my summoning. I was simply unaware of the traits it granted me.

Without moving I kept my gaze on the stunned Guiche, even as his bronze golem came apart in front of his eyes, destroyed utterly by my two swings. The golems arm, severed cleanly at the elbow from my return strike was still held up right by my unmoving left arm. I threw it aside, lowered my left arm, and called forth Kanshou's twin, Bakuya. The white sword was every bit as pristine and beautiful as the black sword in my other hand, the colors simply reversed. My opponents eyes widened, and I waited for him to make the next move, not speaking, patient.

"I-I-Impossible!" he declared as white as a sheet as he stared at my two blades. "You're just a commoner!"

It seemed as though the shock of me being able to perform magic had made him forget about the duel. A shame. I wanted to see more of what he was capable of, but this was a duel.

That meant it was time for me to kill him.

I shot forward, my movement so fast thanks to the combination of the summoning contract and my own augmenting capabilities that I was nearly a blur. I wasn't attempting to go near my full speed, wanting to hold back my true capabilities for true opponents, but even half-assing it seemed to leave me at this level. My opponent's eyes widened as he realized that I was coming for him, impossibly quick and with two very large, very sharp swords, and he made one more last ditch effort to save himself.

The fool actually summoned his own sword. He meant to try and match me in combat.

One blow, and the sword he had drawn was wrenched from his grip and sent flying across the courtyard to shatter against the castle wall many yards away. As it flew I took a moment to memorize it's features. It was a fantastic blade, even if it was created hastily, and I would make it a point to trace it later on as a way to show respect to the poor dead fool. I can make his death quick. It's the least I can do for him giving me such a wonderful blade for later.

The back of Kanshou found his stomach, doubling him over. The back of Bakuya found the back of his knees, forcing him to kneel in that position. I placed my knee on his back, slammed both the swords so that they made an 'X' right under his neck, and prepared to scissor the blades together. It would take his head instantly, and keep me clean of the spurting blood that would come from the stump.

"Yield!" he croaked desperately, moments away from death.

I froze.

Dead silence rang through the courtyard. They had come expecting a spectacle, and little else. I doubt any of them really believed that anyone would die. They'd get to exercise their rights as nobles to watch another noble smack around a commoner for a bit, maybe seriously injure him, and then they could all go for crumpets and tea while I lay broken and bleeding on the ground behind them.

Instead I had shown them death in battle. It lingered in the air, palpable, a tingle on the skin like electricity. I had shown them unstoppable violence, the certain end that awaits all who carry blades to wield against their fellow man.

Many of the students were gaping. Many more were white. A few were crying. All were shocked. Even Tabitha, who had no doubt expected something unexpected to happen had not expected this. Her eyes were widened as well, noticeable through her thin glasses, though that was the only change in her expression.

"What?" I asked the boy on his knees in front of me, my blades caressing his throat.

"Yield, yield, I yield!" he was almost weeping, his eyes locked on the black and white blades on either side of his head.

I stood in complete silence, not moving.

"I said I yield, what are you waiting for!" he shrieked at me desperately.

"I'm debating whether or not to except," I tell him, regarding him from above, and gaped up at me, his head turned so he could see my blank face. Several gasps emitted from the crowd at my frank admission.

"What? I said I yield, you have to stop now!" he pleaded.

"No, I don't," I tell him. "It's a duel. Whether or not I show mercy is at my discretion."

"Servant," a soft voice called out behind me. I almost didn't recognize it. I turned my head so I could meet Louise's eyes.

"Yes, Master?" I asked her calmly.

"Release him." It wasn't a request. It was an order.

A smile graced my lips. "As you command, Master." I pulled my knee from the small of his back, allowing him to back away from the razor sharp edges of my blades. He stumbled backwards, desperately crab walking to put as much distance as he could from me. I wasn't done with him yet, so with a quick move I threw both my blades. They buried themselves behind him, quivering on either side of his head and he froze again.

"Through your own actions, you shamed yourself," I told him flatly. "Then, once caught in your shame, in order to soothe your pride, you challenged one whom you believed would not be able to defend themselves to mortal combat so that you could recover your reputation through violence upon them. Then, once you discovered that the one you thought to bully was capable of fighting you equally, you attempted to flee from battle. The convictions you were so willing to kill for weren't enough for you to die for." I scowled. "How contemptible. If this is the common attitude amongst those who call themselves 'nobles' then I am exceedingly glad I bear no such title."

I turned my back on him and walked to Louise, who had watched the whole exchange. With a snap of my fingers, I released the constructed blades, and they quickly dissolved into thin air. I took note of Louise's expression. She looked scared, but was determined to stand firm in front of her Servant, no matter how different I truly was to what she had thought I was.

"Master," I addressed her. "Please quickly make some real enemies for me to destroy. My swords will get dull if swung too often in schoolyard squabbles."

"I'll see what I can do," she said back to me, in a dry voice she had no doubt learned from me.

I smiled at her response. There is steel in my Master. Good.

*Scene Break*

"What is a 'Servant'?" Louise asked of me, her voice very quiet. It looked like my display earlier had drained quite a bit of the spunk out of her.

I sipped my tea and then answered. "Servants are weapons of war, battle, and destruction, wielded by their Masters to destroy their enemies and accomplish their goals," I tell her bluntly.

It was less than an hour since the disastrous dual. The two of us had returned to the now empty tables that had been set up on the lawn for the purpose of allowing the students to mingle while they familiarized themselves with their familiars. Now, the lawn was nearly vacant. It seemed that my presence caused some of them discomfort. I wonder why.

Louise and I had taken seats at one of the tables and were now sipping tea, served to us by a Siesta who appeared to be unable to decide if I deserved to be worshiped for standing up to a noble and winning, or if she should run away screaming from someone who obviously had the will and the capability to kill without mercy.

So far the worship seemed to be winning.

"What do you mean by that, Shirou?" Louise asked me. She took a sip of her own tea, and had the look of someone who was bracing themselves for finding out that their dear friend they have known all their life was actually Hitler. Still. That was the first time she spoke my name properly.

"First off, I should explain to you just why human summons are so rare," I tell her. I found myself unconsciously assuming what I had in the past come to call 'The Tohsaka Rin Lecture Position Number 5'. It involved sitting straight upright, occupying one hand with some meaningless prop, and using the other to emphasize important points with calculated gesticulations.

Louise perked up at that, showing something other than resignation. I've no doubt she'd been wondering just why she had summoned a human, something which around here was apparently unheard of. I began my explanation.

"First of all, I'm sure you know some of the points I'm going to bring up, but I'm not sure which ones, so if I'm covering something you already know, I'm not trying to be insulting, just comprehensive," I assure her. She nodded and I continued. "You are no doubt familiar with just what it means to take a familiar, right? That you insert a bit of magic into them, and the creature that you do it to comes to regard you as well known and superior. For most animals this generally equates the summoner as being a superior member of the pack. For instance if you summon a wolf it would see you simply as a bigger stronger wolf and defer to you by instinct." Louise seemed familiar with all this, and simply nodded. Siesta, who was unashamedly eavesdropping didn't seem to know this and was currently overflowing a cup of tea she had been pretending to pour while she listened in. "The magic also familiarizes the animal with the master in other ways. It interprets the command of the master in ways that the animal can understand. It's best to think of it like a translation spell. The master says an order, and the magic translates it into the growls, or meows, or hisses, or body language even that the animal can comprehend."

"I'd never heard that part before," Louise admitted, sounding embarrassed.

"It's not commonly known. Most people just need to know that it works, so they don't bother learning the details," I inform her. "Now the problem is that when a human is summoned, the normal amount of magic needed to do the same to them is a lot greater than that of an animal. This is because humans have the mental abilities to discern the order and try to analyze it. They also have the sense of self necessary to decide how the order would affect themselves, and the will power to resist it if it's detrimental to their own health or ideals."

I took another sip of tea before continuing. "To put it simply, if you tell a wolf to get between you and an arrow, it'll do it because it doesn't know any better. If you tell a human to do the same, they'll be able to see that you're just ordering them to die in order to protect you, that dying would be bad for their own health, and then they'd tell you to go to hell and dodge the arrow themselves."

"I see," Louise said slowly. "So that's why even though familiars are supposed to be completely obedient, you've been able to do just whatever it is you wanted?"

"Precisely," I nodded. "Now, even though humans make terrible familiars, they still make great familiars as well." I hold a hand up to stop any interruptions. "Let me explain. Even though a human doesn't have to obey, they're still damn useful when they do. Most familiars can deliver simple messages, maybe do a few minor errands, and maybe protect their masters as a last ditch effort. A human on the other hand can do complex tasks, respond to changes in situations without needing direct supervision, operate machinery, negotiate, pretty much anything that the master could need them to do. You see my point?"

"I think so," Louise nodded, her expression thoughtful. "So then it seems to me the problem is getting the familiar to obey you?"

"Pretty much. This is where the 'Servant' class comes in. Let's be honest," I tell her, "if you're going to put all the effort into trying to call forth a human summons, the headache of getting them to listen to you, the pains of keeping them in good health and happiness, are you going to want to summon someone useless?"

"Well, no," Louise admitted, trying to wrap her head around the idea I was presenting her. "If I was going to have to work so hard on it, I'd want someone who could do a lot…" her eyes widened as a few of the puzzle pieces in her mind clicked.

I gave her a grin. "Exactly. When you summon a human, you want the best of the best. You want the greatest warrior, the most powerful magi, the wisest adviser. You're not calling some 'commoner'," I waved my hand in the air to emphasize the word, "you're summoning someone useful. Someone with skills."

Louise's eyes widened as she stared at me. "So that means…"

I nodded. "Yes. When you called me forth you didn't just drag some random guy of the street. You called someone who had the skills and powers necessary to aide you in the path ahead." I gave her another sardonic grin before moving on. "Now, you remember when we first started understanding each other, I told you I was summoned without a class?" She nodded and I continued. "Well 'class' is a way of describing the general skill set of the Servant. I told you I was good as a 'Saber' and as an 'Archer', and that I could do alright as a 'Castor', a 'Lancer', and as an 'Assassin'. I also told you I was no good as either 'Berserker' and 'Rider'."

"But what do those mean?" she asked. She was leaning forward eagerly now. I could tell I had just gone from 'humiliating failure' to 'potentially cooler than dragon and griffin combined'.

"A Saber is a swordsman. You've already seen that. The Archer is exactly that, an archer. I'm almost as good with projectile weapons as I am with swords. The Lancer is also self explanatory. A Castor," and here I paused expecting an outburst, "is one who can wield magic."

"What!" Siesta chimed in, completely forgetting that she wasn't supposed to be paying attention. "Then that means you're a noble?" She looked very distraught about that.

"No," I tell her flatly. "I'm not a member of the ruling elite of my homeland. Magic skill is completely independent of social stature where I'm from." I could tell the very thought of it rocked Louise's world to the core. "Now, moving on, the Assassin class is generally those who are physically weak, but very capable in stealth. The Rider is one who rides, think like cavalry, and the Berserker is just that: someone who's strong as hell, but completely crazy."

"So you're a magi then?" Louise asked, and I could tell that for some reason the thought of me being able to use magic either pissed her off or drove her into despair. I wonder why?

I shrugged ruefully. "I told you I was limited there. I know some techniques, but all of them are focused around my swordsmanship. Basically all my magic goes to my blades." That admission seemed to cheer her up immensely. "Anyway, those are the classes that I'm familiar with. They're the only ones in my homeland at least. I'm going to be honest, even though I know a bit about human summoning, it's not that common even where I'm from."

"Why's that?" Louise asked. She had drained her tea and gestured to Siesta to fill it without looking at the maid. She was focused entirely on me and my explanation. My display earlier had shaken a lot of the preconceived notions she had about familiars, and my explanation now was every bit as outlandish to her as my battle.

"If you were dragged away from your nice comfortable castle, forced to do some strange man's laundry, sleep on the ground, and then were threatened with no meals and a whipping if you disobeyed, what would you do?" I ask her bluntly.

"I would never do such things!" she declared hotly. I could see she hadn't made the connection yet. "Such a thing is beneath the daughter of a duke, and the very thought of being forced to…Oh," she said suddenly, interrupting her own tirade as she finally made the connection. Her face rapidly turned as red as her hair, and she sat down quietly, looking very, very uncomfortable.

"Exactly," I tell her. "The majority of the time, the Servant generally kills the Master. Sometimes, they'll torture them first. If they're feeling generous, they might just maim them," with each description Louise got a little less red and a little more white and she shrank further and further into her seat till just her eyes peeked up from below the table. I couldn't help but give a wry smile at her discomfort.

Siesta just looked curious. "So why haven't you killed Louise yet, Shirou?" That definitely made the pink haired girl flinch.

I shrugged. "I'm generally easy going. I might be good at violence, but I prefer to exercise it only when necessary. Also, I don't mind simple chores. I think doing laundry and cooking is very relaxing. It's a peaceful way to keep the hands busy while letting the mind wander," I admit, not looking at all ashamed of my confession. That seemed to relieve Louise a great deal and impress Siesta. "Beyond that, I just like helping people. I probably would have done many of the things I did for my Master even if she wasn't my Master. But most of all, I hold the positions of Master and Servant in the highest regards," my face was solemn here, and I answered completely seriously. "The pairing of Master and Servant is a sacred and powerful thing in my eyes. The two can accomplish great things if they work together in a unified purpose. The bonds that can form between the two can be stronger than any marriage, any friendship, and any camaraderie," my solemn eyes lock onto Louise's and the intensity there froze her like a mouse before a serpent.

I held her gaze and continued softly. "The reason I didn't kill you where you stood when you summoned me, or simply waited till you were asleep and left was because I was curious. Who was this girl who has called me to her, what was it that let her reach me across the ether? I decided that until I knew, I would at least give her the benefit of the doubt, and behave in the fashion I believed appropriate as a Servant."

"Oh," my summoner said softly, looking wide eyed at my confession. Siesta obviously didn't know how to respond to such a frank admission. She was a simple girl, one who did her job, got her pay check, and no doubt dreamed of being swept off her feet by a prince charming. I don't think she'd ever considered the concepts I presented before her.

I leaned back, relaxing my posture and letting my Master regain her composure. She looked very small, and very fragile. When she called for a familiar she had been expecting a subservient beast, proud and powerful looking. What she found that had answered was proud and powerful no doubt, but subservient wasn't exactly in the description. It would take her some time to adjust to the differences in what she had expected and what she had received.

"There's just a few more points to cover," I finally speak up. "If you'd like, we can save them for later," I offered, giving her a chance to escape and collect her thoughts.

"No," she said softly, and then seemed to regain some of her bearings. "No," she said again freely, "continue." She looked like she was bracing herself for more earth shattering revelations.

"Just a few simple things," I assure her. "Usually when a summons is performed, three things are prepared ahead of time: the Command Sigils, a unified purpose, and a reagent." I pause to sip my tea and Louise waited patiently. My throat was beginning to dry from all this talking. "The Command Sigils are three holy marks that allow the Master to give three absolute orders to the Servant."

"Absolute orders?" Siesta chimed in again, no longer even pretending not to be paying attention. In fact she had drawn up a chair and was sipping tea as well.

"Absolute," I confirmed. "Normally, if the Master gives a command that would be repellant to the Servant, they'd refuse. By using a Command Sigil, no matter how much the Servant might dislike it, they'd be forced to obey."

"What do you mean by repellant?" Louise asked, not even noticing the maids presence anymore.

"I mean repellant," I repeat. "Let's say that the one who summoned was of devout faith and refused to destroy a church that housed an enemy. The Master could compel them to do so no matter how much the Servant might not want to." The example made sense to them, but I felt the need to elaborate so they could understand the true importance of the Sigils. "They could also order the Servant to perform any sexual act, no matter how deviant, any crime, no matter how atrocious; they could even order the Servant to end their own life." I laid that out on them bluntly and Louise's eyes widened and Siesta spit out her tea in shock. "Those three Sigils are the single greatest tool for the Master to use to ensure their Servant's obedience. The Servant knows that if they step too far out of line then they can be forced into it. But in response, the Master knows if they trample on their Servant's pride too much, then the Servant will be free, and they'll remember just what it was their Master made them do."

I gave a tiny somber smile at that. "That's when things can get ugly for the Master."

Taking another sip as the two digested that I continued. "But when I say absolute, I mean that if the order is within reason, than even the fabric of space and time can be altered."

"Fabric of space and time?" Louise asked, her curiosity as a mage shining through.

"For instance, if the Master is away from their servant and finds themselves needing them, they can give the order 'come forth'. The moment they do, regardless of the distance between the Master and the Servant, the Servant will come. Space itself will fold so that the Servant can be at their Master's side." Both of the girls dropped their tea at that. "The order could be something as simple as 'dodge that blow' or 'attack with all your power'. The results in combat than would surpass anything the Servant would have been capable of on their own."

I leaned back. My tea had grown cold, and it was starting to get late in the afternoon. We were now indisputably the only ones at this little tea party. Other servants had begun to clean up the rest of the tables and chairs, leaving the three of us alone on a green field.

"What about the shared purpose?" Louise asked. She looked like she was starting to get worn down from all the shocks and revelations.

"Pretty much exactly what it sounds like. The Servant is more willing to obey if the Master is trying to accomplish something that the Servant wants to accomplish." I decide to keep the rest of my answers short. I could always go back later and provide more details if I needed to. For now, it might be best to let Louise get some rest.

"And the reagent?" she asked, not making a protest at the sudden turn towards the abrupt.

"An item used to specify who it is you will summon," I answer concisely. That seemed to confuse her.

"Who you summon?" I give her a small smile.

"Did you use anything in your ritual that would target a specific type of animal or species?" I ask her simply.

"No," she admitted, apparently never having thought of such a thing.

"Then that means when you summoned me, you got precisely the one who was most suitable for you," I smiled at her.

*Scene Break*

_When Louise went to sleep that night, she was equal parts exhausted, exalted, and embarrassed. She had done it! Her summons wasn't a failure! She truly had found a familiar, no, she corrected herself, a SERVANT that was noble and powerful! Yes, her initial response and impression might have been less then favorable, which was the source of her embarrassment, but do to the very nature of the Servant, of Emiya Shirou, she was confident that the situation wasn't unsalvageable. It would take time, but eventually she would be able to prove to everyone, her peers, her teachers, and her family, that she wasn't a failure. That she wasn't Louise the Zero!_

_And when Louise slept, she dreamed of sword and battle once more._

_There was her Servant, still younger looking. And there was the girl in blue. Saber, she remembered from last night's dream. Even if it was just a dream, the words of her Servant had seeped in, and her mind had constructed a vision based around the then strange terms. Louise felt like giggling. This was amazing! It was wonderful!_

_So it was when she saw her Servant, and her dreamed up Servant's Servant battling a hulking brute, Berserker her mind whispered to her, she felt no fear. She would dream up a wonderful battle, the boy/Servant, and the dream/Servant, who Louise had already decided represented her own future as a powerful mage, would emerge triumphant and glorious over the foul savage that stood before them._

_Instead, in Louise's dream, she watched the girl in blue suffer wound after wound. And though she stood proud despite being bloodied, when the final blow of the giant, whom wielded a chipped club of rock, came rattling down, she had almost decided that what she was seeing was a nightmare._

_And when the boy visage of her Servant threw the girl in blue away and took that awful strike, when she saw the spray of blood erupt from the one whom she had summoned, she knew for a fact that it really was a nightmare._

_And so Louise dreamed of swords and battle._


	3. To be Drawn: The Third night

Hill of Swords 3

Author's note. I don't know how I've come to have the lucky combination of just enough free time and just enough inspiration to be putting out so much work so fast, but for those of you enjoying the story, rejoice! A few brief notes on some of the reviews. A number of you have wondered why I have Shirou being so ready to kill? Because in the game he is! "The first rule of the magi is that to be a magi is to walk with death". Direct quote from the game. That's not to say that Shirou is going to be sitting around sharpening his sword and eying strangers' necks, but if he's put in that situation, he's going to do so without hesitation. Also, people have been wondering about his sarcastic attitude. Basically I'm going by that since he ends up being EMIYA, which was described as a sarcastic and cynical character, he definitily has canon potential of ending up that way. However, since he's not EMIYA yet, he's only occasionally sarcastic. And as for the dreams at the end with Louise, I'm using those as an option to illustrate both Shirou's back story, and to highlight the character development of Louise, seeing as it can be kind of hard on occasion to show character growth for other characters when writing in the first person.

Let's see, three more major points and then it's on with the story. First off, thank you Caladbog II for pointing out a very important element of Fate/Stay Night that I have erroneously missed! I weep to the heaven's in shame for having forgotten the long drawn out and pointlessly involved cooking/eating scene! I shall work one in immediately! And the second point, the reptile interactions. I hate to break the hearts of those hoping for it to be story relevant. It's not. I just have so much fun writing in those scenes that I decided to use them as comedic tension breakers. And the third and final point, the concerns about tracer/gandalfer Shirou being broken? Hell yeah he's going to be powerful. I never liked the whole theme of the main character starting out weak and constantly being let go by the bad guys until they finally grow to the point where they can be a credible threat. Shirou's starting out as genuine badass, and encounters will change significantly with that fact. Don't worry though, just because Shirou is not gonna start out as the whipping boy doesn't equate to instant ownage of all his foes. I have a couple of the battles already sketched out in my head, and I hope that when we get to them the doubters will be able to rest at ease. And now, on with the third night of Hill of Swords! (for those of you unaware, this doesn't mean it's the third day. naming each episode a night is a reference to the chapter naming convention of Fate/Stay Night.)

*Story Start*

"You don't really have to come to class if you don't want to, Shirou," Louise assured me yet again. For some reason she looked very nervous to have me attending class with her.

"You might have mentioned that, but I want to come anyway, Louise," I responded, also yet again.

The past few days, four of them since the aborted dual and subsequent explanations, had marked a decided change in the interaction between Louise and I. One of the most prominent had been the switch to first name basis between the two of us.

As what is appearing to be natural in our interactions this turned out to be more complicated than expected. On my part it had taken me nearly half a day to realize that I had been introducing myself with Japanese convention of placing the family name before the surname. On Louise's part it had taken an entire day for her to realize that the reason I was steadfastly only referring to her as 'Master' was that she hadn't yet given me permission to use her first name. I know it might seem a little gratuitous, but as a Japanese person I still had firm convictions about not overstepping propriety while addressing someone until specifically invited to by the person themselves.

I even occasionally added the suffix –san to names, something which caused a good bit of confusion to the aforementioned parties till I realized what I was doing and had to explain yet another convention of my home land.

Still, with the mounting tension between Louise and I based around the difference in our views of our respective roles out of the way, the whole experience of being summoned was feeling more and more like a vacation to me. There were no mid-night patrols searching for other Masters to defeat, no desperate uphill battles against foes of superior power or positioning, heck, there wasn't even any more mocking or jibing at my Master.

At least not when I was around. I got the distinct impression that a good number of students found me scary as hell.

It had taken a good bit of explaining before the school at large got over the impression that I wasn't some kind of killer golem disguised as a human that was going to slaughter everyone who stood in my way and bathe in their blood without mercy. The killer golem thing appeared to be some kind of popular scary story, the kind that people like to tell around campfires in order to frighten each other. It's not that weird considering that my own culture really liked to talk about killer robots from the future, so after I had gotten a kick out of the similarities, I had shrugged off the rumor and went about my life.

I think the fact that I hadn't killed anyone in three days, went out of my way to help passing students with various things like carrying books and picking up dropped items, and STILL was frequently sighted doing Louise's laundry without hesitation was enough to get people to finally start calming down around me.

Besides the first name thing, Louise I had managed to settle down into a comfortable routine. I would wake her up in the morning and set her outfit for her, then wait for her down in the courtyard. We would go to breakfast where we would separate, her heading in to the tables with the other students, me heading to the kitchen and eating with the staff. And occasionally getting molested by the dragon and the salamander, who were named Sylphid and Flame respectively. From there I would walk Louise to class where we would again separate. While she was occupied with her studies I would generally either find some place to exercise and work on my own skills, either magic or martial, take care of any chores or cleaning that the room I shared with Louise required, or even just help the castle's staff with various chores. I was becoming quite well liked by the caretakers for my willingness to pitch in wherever they were shorthanded.

I think a good number of them got a kick out of the fact that I could use magic even though I wasn't a noble. I feel it gave them a certain sense of vindication in displaying that all the tripe about magic denoting nobility was wiped right out the door and that even a servant could use magic if the situation was right.

I even caught the head chef, the big guy who never much cared for nobles in the first place and was now my second biggest fan after Siesta, reading what appeared to be purloined first year books and attempting to cast spells of his own.

Now, however, that the unease over my presence had died down enough that people weren't actively pressing themselves against the wall in fear and inching away from me when I passed, which yes, some of them actually did, I had stepped forward with my request to Louise: let me attend class with her.

"Why are you so insistent on coming to class?" Louise huffed next to me, her arms crossed and her face puffy with displeasure. "They won't let you participate. Even if you can use magic, in everyone's eyes you're still just a familiar and a commoner. It's not a matter of talent for them, it's a matter of status."

"I know," I admitted. "I probably wouldn't be able to do anything they teach anyway. From what I've seen our styles of magic are just too different to be compatible."

"Styles of magic?" Louise said, her head cocked to the side. I could almost see little question marks appearing above her as what I said threw her for a complete loop. Before she could ask me what I meant a big woman wearing an honest to Root stylized pointed witches hat came in and class promptly started.

As the class continued I listened, enraptured. The styles of magic they used here really were completely different from the ones of my home world. It was a fascinating insight into the workings of the magic of this world.

I leaned over to whisper to Louise softly, seeking confirmation on the actual mechanics of what was being explained. "So the magi of this land use their wands to channel the prana of the elements around them in order to form spells?"

"Yes," she whispered back. We kept our conversation quiet so as not to interrupt the class itself, and even as she answered she continued taking diligent notes.

"And the ability to combine these elements causes them to alter their nature, and the more elements that can be combined, the more powerful the magi?"

"Yes," she whispered back, obviously paying more attention to the lecture then me.

I intended to stop there, but I noticed something out of the corner of my eye.

"Louise," I nudged her.

"What?" she hissed back, starting to get annoyed by my constant interruptions.

"What the hell is Kirche doing?"

She glanced over in the direction I was staring, and instantly understood the unease that had started to seep into my voice. Kirche had her head propped up on one hand, and was using the other to toy with the already plunging neckline of her blouse. She was also staring at me with a flushed face.

"I don't know," Louise finally said. "And I don't want to."

I nodded. Kirche had noticed that I was looking at her, and her tongue darted out to run along her lips sensuously. "Neither do I," I decided, and we both in unison turned back to the lecture, determined to ignore the disturbing woman a few isles over from us.

I also immediately began making strategies for the best way to take down the different types of magi I might come across. The more I plan now the better I'll be able to perform when the time comes.

Something particularly interesting happened half way through the lecture.

Louise was called upon to demonstrate transfiguration of elements.

I began to suspect that something was up when every student there gasped in unison and began to shrink under the table. Kirche was shaken from whatever trance she had sank into and stood up, slamming her hands against the desk. "Just a second, Professor. You can't possibly mean to have Louise the Zero demonstrate, can you?"

There's that title again. I wonder what it meant. Guiche had had one too. I was beginning to get the impression that titles were pretty common in these parts. Guiche's had indicated that he was a metal crafter. I wonder what a title like 'zero' could mean?

"Yes, I most certainly mean to," the professor said, sounding a little aggrieved that her choice in students seemed to be garnishing such a reaction.

"But Louise…" Kirche started and was cut off by the pink haired girl herself.

"I'll do it," she declared, standing up suddenly, looking determined and a little resigned.

I noticed Tabitha stand up at this pronouncement and wordlessly leave the room. Kirche's eyes darted towards me, and then she apparently decided to follow the blue haired girl, who was still reading. The other students began to sink lower into their chairs.

What was up with all this hype? From what I saw such a little demonstration shouldn't warrant…

*Scene Break*

"Well," I said, and the coughed up smoke. "That was quite an explosion," I managed to get out.

Louise, who was walking next to me as we left the smoking classroom behind to return to her room to change, said nothing, though she obviously bit her tongue in order to keep from doing so.

I tried again to get a conversation going, feel awkward with the strained silence. "Well, I think I figured out where the title 'Zero' comes from. You're unable to manipulate any of the four common elements." I winced slightly. That might have come out a little harshly.

Strangely enough, despite her flaw being pointed out so bluntly, Louise did not lose her temper. "That's correct. I've never once managed to cast a spell properly. A while back, Kirche laughed and said that since my success rate is zero, I should be called 'Louise the Zero'."

Ouch. That was harsh.

"No wonder you got so upset when I said I could serve as a Caster," I murmured, regarding my Master sideways as we walked. "Even your summons has more skill in magic then you." Okay, looking back on that statement, it might have been simpler if I had just taken my shoe off and jammed it into my mouth rather than speak.

"Yes," Louise said, and despite her obvious immense effort to stay stoic, her voice was laced with bitterness. "Even my familiar has more magic than I."

Despite myself, I shook my head. "No. There you are mistaken. The display back there just proved what I suspected: my Master is indeed the most powerful magi on campus."

She snorted angrily, and whirled on me, one hand on her hip the other thrust into my face. "Don't patronize me, familiar!" she snapped, in her anger slipping back into her previous form of address for me. I let it slide this time; she was obviously distressed. "I don't need the likes of you lying to try and cheer me up! I.."

I grabbed the finger in my face gently and lowered. "I am neither lying, nor patronizing Master," I tell her gently. She blinked at my expression. I was smiling at her. I put one hand on her shoulder and urged her to continue walking.

"What do you mean?" she said finally, sounding slightly desperate for my assurance, but unwilling to believe that I could be telling the truth. I don't blame her, after so many years of failure, her self confidence must be pretty low.

"I've spoken to you before on the dangers of summoning a human, haven't I?" I begin. She nods wordlessly. We had arrived at her room, and I held the door open for her so she could enter. She did so, and immediately began to strip. I followed her in and shut the door, not paying any attention to her nudity. "Well beyond the dangers of a successful summoning, there are the dangers of even an attempted summons."

"Dangers?" Louise asked not seeing where I was coming from. "It's a summons. So long as the ritual is prepared properly, there are no dangers. Even if the most fearsome beast is called it will be obedient." She had turned to the table as she spoke, where a pitcher of water was laid out throughout the day. Pouring some onto a cloth, she used the damped fabric to begin wiping the soot from her.

"I'm referring of course to the sheer power required to summon a human." That caused her to turn and cast a curious look at me. "All humans have within them an innate magic resistance, the ability to resist spells and compulsions. The stronger the person is with magic, the greater the natural magic resistance," I explained.

"I've never heard of this magic resistance before," she said, sounding skeptical. "I know for a fact that even high powered wizards and witches can be taken out by normal magic if they're struck by them."

"Well, it's not the magic itself that's attacking them in those cases," I explained. "That's the element being manipulated by the magic. When I say magic resistance I mean things like pure magic. Generally spells that affect a person's free will like geas or compulsions. It can also translate over to transfiguration spells."

"Transfiguration spells?" she asked, having finished cleaning herself. "I've never heard of human transfiguration."

"It exists," I tell her, laying out the clothes and a towel I had prepared for her. "I ran across another Servant once who could paralyze or turn people into stone with her eyes." I grimaced briefly as I recalled the previous Rider I had come across. That girl had been hot, no doubt, but she had also been more than a little scary as hell. "But another thing the resistance is good against is forceful teleportation spells. Spells like a summon."

Louise made a humming noise as she dried herself off and started to dress. "So why does that make you so certain that I'm as powerful as you say?" she asked, sounding hopeful.

"Because my magic resistance is particularly high, due to the way I use my magic for the most part," I answer her. "Besides that, you also summoned me from a spectacular distance away." Really, really spectacular distance. "I think that the only other person on the campus who might have been able to manage something like that is Tabitha."

"Tabitha?" she asked. She had taken a seat, and I poured her a cup of tea. One of the things I had requested be added to the room was a small stove and tea kettle. I know I could just go to the kitchen or ask a maid to get me some, but I like making my own tea. Pouring a cup for myself, I join her at the table. "Why her?"

"Because of what she summoned," I told her. "Dragons are powerful magic using creatures. But even though their magical strength is generally better than a humans, their resistance is proportionately less than a humans, so though the dragon might be magically stronger than me, it also would require less effort than the normal human."

"Powerful magical creatures?" Louise snorted at my description. "Dragons are just like horses with scales and wings. That breathe fire," she added. That didn't sound anything like a horse by my definition, but I didn't mention that.

"Really? There aren't many of them in my home land," having all be slaughtered centuries ago by various heroes. Heroes whose swords I am quite fond of I might add. "Legends of them tell of how they were powerful beasts with abilities akin to that of the magi and great physical strength. The ones I hear about around these parts sound more like drakes to me."

"No," Louise said, completely assured of her answer, before taking another sip of tea and closing her eyes in pleasure. She had rapidly become addicted to my tea brewing skills I noted with pride. Nothing is quite as satisfying as seeing food you prepared enjoyed. "I'm quite certain of it."

"All right then," I capitulate. It's really not worth arguing, but I had my doubts. Tabitha's Sylphid was very intelligent, and seemed capable of reason far beyond any of the other familiars I've seen, even Flame, who shared Sylphid's delight in forcing me to give them food and petting them quite regularly. "Anyway, that doesn't change the fact that YOU summoned ME, so I'm positive you have some heavy magical power in you. The explosion earlier just confirmed it."

"Why? All it was was just another failure," she said sullenly. It seemed that my explanation had apparently been enough to cheer her up a bit, but not enough to totally bring her out of her funk. Now that she had shown just how much this was eating away at her, she was reluctant to let herself give up the good sulk she had going for her.

"From the impression I got from the teacher, that spell should have been very simple. If it was just a matter of you not having enough power, I figure nothing would have happened at all. If it was a matter of you just screwing up, I think you'd have just gotten a small pop or the wrong element. Instead you blew it up with enough strength to knock over the first three rows of desks and caused all the windows in the room to shatter," I tell her with a wry smile. She flushed a little at that, but the logic behind it was apparently enough for her to feel better about it.

"So then, what can I do? Why do I keep screwing up like this?" She turned to me and seemed to swallow a large portion of her pride. "Can you help me?"

I sat back, rubbing my chin speculatively. "Well, I'm not an expert in your kind of magic, but I can think of two plausible reasons for your troubles off the top of my head."

"Really?" she perked up instantly, leaning forward with her hands clasped beneath her chin and her wide eyes begging me to continue. She looked like a kid who just found out Christmas had been changed to twice a year.

"Well, the first is that you're just using too much power."

"Huh?" she didn't get what I meant. I get the impression from that and her earlier questions that power conservation didn't figure highly into their style of magic.

"Here, let me show you." I drained my cup in one last gulp before placing it directly on the table in front of us. "This is a good chance to explain some of my abilities to you so that you can know how best to use me." She nodded eager for a lesson. I could see her already imagining walking into class tomorrow and suddenly displaying godlike skill in front of her peers, causing them all to bow before her, begging for forgiveness while she just laughed cruelly above them. Literally, I could see it. It was like a very scary vision of what might have been, only with me beneath her instead of her schoolmates. I shook it off like a bucket of cold water and focused on the demonstration instead. I assumed the 'Tohsaka Rin Lecturing Position Number 5' again.

"First off, a brief explanation on the difference in our styles. You see, the magi of my homeland have divided prana into…"

"Wait," she interrupted almost instantly. "Prana?"

I palmed my face. By the Root, do they not even have that much technical expertise over their own abilities? It's a wonder any of them survived long enough to pass on what little they managed to scrap together. "Prana is the energy of magic, which is used in the construction and casting of spells." I could literally see those question marks over her head again. "Think of prana as like raw ingredients, and the spell is the meal you get after you cut them up, combine them, and cook them," I tell her, drastically simplifying the subject for the sake of expedience. Even I, as amateur as I was back then knew that much. The metaphor seemed to work well enough, because Louise just nodded her head in response. "Now there are two kinds of prana: external, which is called mana, and internal, which is called od."

I paused and waited for her to give some kind of acknowledgment, which she did with a small nod of her head. I continued.

"Now I'm not really that much for the theory of it, but from what I can tell the big difference between our two styles is that you use mana, and that I'm using od." She raised a curious eye brow as I continued. "You use your wand to gather together the natural free floating prana of the planet, mana, and then shape it using your will. That's why all your magic is divided into the five elements she mentioned. What I do is shape the prana within me, the od, and shape it while it's still in me before releasing it externally. That's a big reason why neither one of us can use the others' style of magic. It would just take too long to relearn all the basics required to get to the point where we could catch up with the rest."

"Oh," she said. I could tell she was disappointed. She was no doubt hoping for personalized instruction from her captive instructor.

"Now, in order to explain what I meant by using too much power, let me show you one of my skills." I reached out and put a finger on the cup in front of me. She leaned forward eager to see me turn it into gold, or make it explode into black fire, or something equally impressive.

Trace on. Composition analyzed. Reinforcing….

"There." I took my finger away.

"But," she started, looking at the cup suspiciously, "nothing happened!"

I picked up the cup and threw it at the wall as hard as I could without augmentation. She 'eeped' at the sudden movement, and watched surprised as instead of the delicate porcelain shattering, it bounced off the wall and rolled back towards my feet without so much as a crack on it. I picked it up and put it back on the table in front of her wide eyes.

"This is called 'reinforcing'. It involves me putting my magic into an object and, well," I trailed off with a wave of my hand, "reinforcing it."

"That's it?" she said, reaching out to prod the cup with one finger, as though expecting it to be red hot or try to bite her finger.

"Pretty much," I acknowledged. It wasn't a very impressive technique after all. It was one of the first things that any apprentice in my home world learned. "I use it in combat to strengthen my body and senses, making me faster and tougher than I normally am."

"Ah. Like how you stopped the golem with one hand?" she guessed, regarding me shrewdly.

"Precisely. Now, how this ties into your problem," I reached out my hand put a finger on the cup. "You can't just pump od into something. You can only reinforce an object so much. If you put too much in…" I flooded the cup and it instantly shattered, "then that happens."

"So you think I might be putting too much mana in my spells, and that's what's causing the explosions?"

"Wait, explosions? As in plural?" I asked suddenly. She nodded her head. "So pretty much every spell ends like that?" I remembered her attempt at a silence spell. She nodded again. "Alright, then there might be three causes for your problem then," I tell her.

"Well, what's the second?" she sat back eager for more. Everything I was telling her was new, I could tell, and the concept of actually discovering a way to correct herself had made her an obedient student.

"The second is that you're using the wrong element," I said simply. "You mentioned earlier that not everyone can use all the elements. You could just be trying to use the wrong one."

"But I've tried spells from all four of the elements and nothing works!" she protested, offended that I thought it could be something so simple.

"Weren't there supposed to be five elements?" I ask her bluntly. Her eyes widened in shock.

"The void?" she whispered, apparently dumb struck that I would even suggest the legendary hypothetical fifth element to her.

"Maybe, maybe not," I tell her. "In my homeland we consider the five elements to be fire, water, metal, air, and wood. I also know that a few other countries that consider the fifth to be ether, and another that consider it to be plasma."

"Huh?" she said, totally unprepared for that.

"I'm saying that just because traditionally," I stressed the word to her, "that those are considered in this particular country doesn't mean that tradition is right. There could be any number of elements out there that people are unaware of. And just because the four are the only ones taught, the people who are naturally aligned with an unknown element but are never taught how to use it because no one knows how to teach spells for it."

"So what do I do if that's the case?" She asked skeptically. I don't blame her. It must seem pretty pretentious to her to blatantly tell her to her face that all the beliefs on magic and the traditions that came from those beliefs could be wrong.

Tough cookies. I know they're wrong in some regards, and just underdeveloped in others, so I feel perfectly justified in making my case.

"No idea," I tell her bluntly. She slumped at that. "I'm not an expert on your kind of magic. I'd recommend looking through the history books, trying to find references to strange practices. Maybe start with human summons."

"Why human summons?" she asked, not particularly interested but asking anyway.

"Well, Guiche summoned that mole, and he was an earth style mage right? Kirche has the salamander and I'm pretty sure she's a fire style," she tilted her head to the side, and nodded as I explained my reasoning. "I'm not sure because I haven't seen her cast before, but since Tabitha summoned a dragon, is she by chance a wind style user?" She nodded again, this time in affirmation. "Well, there you go. It's a long shot, but it has a chance."

Louise sighed again. She had come into this little impromptu lesson hoping that I'd have the instant cure all to her worries, but instead I'm just giving her more work. She seemed discouraged by it, but I had no doubt she really was that determined to improve, and would most likely be spending either a lot of time in the library, or a lot of time trying not to blow things up. "What's the third option? The one you just came up with?" she asked instead, resigning herself to another vague answer.

"You might have an unusual affinity," I tell her. I continued, already knowing that she was going to have questions. "Sometimes mages are just particularly attuned to a particular usage of magic. Like Gauche. He seemed to be very skilled at construction: that golem was nearly instantaneous and was very well put together, and the sword he made at the last second was really top notch. I had no idea he'd be able to make something like that so quickly, even if he didn't know how to use it," I snorted at that.

"So what do you mean by unusual then?" she asked tracing a finger around the edge of her empty cup and staring at the bottom of it.

"Hmm," I smiled slightly. "I have the perfect example."

"Oh? What?" she glanced up. I bowed in my chair.

"Me." Her eyebrow shot up. "Since you confided in me about your own difficulties, allow me to share my own: by the standards of my homeland, I am a complete failure as a mage."

"What?" she gawked. "But you were so fast, and so skilled!"

"With the sword, not with magic," I told her. "Remember how I said all my skills were based around my swordsmanship? It's because I'm just not able to do anything else. When I was learning, I was never able to get beyond the two most basic skills any magi should have: reinforcement and projection."

"Projection?" she said leaning forward. My failures as a magi seemed to fascinate her.

"Forcing the od in my body out into a solid shape. It's a useless technique used just to get the apprentice to get used to manipulating their own od." I grimaced in pain at the memory. "I spent years trying to learn the two. It didn't help that my father, the one who was instructing me, died while I was still learning." She gasped.

"Your father died? So it was just you and your mother and your siblings?" she seemed saddened by that.

"Actually, both my parents died in a fire when I was very young," she gawked at my casual admittance to orphan hood. "I was adopted, and my adopted father was the one who instructed me for several years before he also died. I never had any siblings." My twice over orphan status made her look sad. I didn't let it get to me. Both instances happened a very long time ago.

"Anyway," I continued my interrupted explanation. "I kept trying and trying to master the two techniques, and eventually I found someone who was willing to take up my instruction." That would be Rin, and the little genius of a magi had never let me live down the fact that she was my master even though we were both the same age.

"And then you were able to learn the techniques?" she asked, trying to guess the conclusion of my story. I grinned again.

"Actually, I never mastered projection. It turns out that I had been practicing it wrong the entire time." She gawked at me. I continued. "In fact, I had been practicing it so wrong that I had accidentally created a whole new technique." That would be tracing.

"You accidentally made a whole new technique?" she gaped at me, and then began to laugh helplessly. I grinned and chuckled with her.

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up Master," I groused playfully. She finally managed to get herself together.

"So what does this have to do with a, what did you call it? Unusual affinity?" It looked as though the laugh had done her some good. Louise was grinning at me playfully; her earlier gloom nearly completely vanished.

"The technique I invented I named 'tracing'. It's the ability to completely replicate something. Not just the shape, like projection. I replicate the materials, the forging process of the materials, even the history of an object. It's still only temporary, but it's a superior form of recreation. And it's perfect for my affinity." I held up both my hands in front of me, and traced Kanshou once more into it. "Swords."

"Wait, your affinity is swords?" she asked, sounding confused.

"Yes. Even before I developed this technique, I dreamed of swords. I can effortlessly recreate any sword I see, no matter what the circumstances, no matter what the style." I detraced Kanshou, and replaced it with a claymore. Her eyes widened as she realized that I wasn't just summoning a blade like the common rumor around school was, but actually recreating them. The claymore was replaced by a falchion, then by a damascus steel dervish blade, then by broadsword, then by a katana. Each blade was a work of art, perfectly mastered down to the smallest detail. I gazed at them fondly. "I can trace other things as well. Pretty much any simple object, like a chair or a table. But tracing a weapon of any kind is always easier then something which isn't. And tracing a sword is almost effortless for me. I'm just attuned with them."

"But that doesn't make any sense. How can you have an affinity for something like swords?" she argued.

"Why is it that a musician can be better at a violin then at the piano? Or an artist better at painting then sculpting?" I shrugged. "Sometimes people are just naturally better at specific things."

"Well then, what might my affinity be?" she asked expectantly.

"Explosions," I tell her seriously, and she scowled at me. "I mean it. Maybe you're just hardwired for spells that are meant for destruction. It could just be that you're not meant for peaceful magic, that where you can't manage something that can build, you'll excel at something that will break."

"You really think so?" she asked, sounding a little reluctant at the idea.

I shrugged again. "Well, you summoned me. I was a failure as a magi until I discovered my own calling. Maybe that's one of the aspects that made me compatible with your summons." She didn't really have an answer to that.

*Scene Break*

"Welcome, customers," the shop keeper called out in a voice that was either enthusiastically welcoming, or greasily ingratiating. I decided to withhold judgment until I had a chance to speak to him.

"Oh," the man, a little short and with a bulbous nose that spoke volumes of just much he enjoyed good drink. "Noble folk. We're an honest business here, we've had no trouble with the authorities…" the man hastened to defend his business. I've little doubt that one or two of the royal tax collectors had gotten a little free with their responsibilities in the past.

"I'm here as a customer," Louise declared, cutting through whatever it was the man was going say. "I require a sword for my Servant," she said indicating me as I stood behind her. I gave the man a sardonic wave, before turning my eyes instantly to the walls.

It had seemed a little strange to me, but Louise had insisted that she buy one for me. This was a result of our little talk earlier. After I had told her my opinions on her problems, she had turned her attention to the specifics of my magic, a topic I felt appropriate. It had focused on the differences in our magic first, but she had quickly made a discovery that made her nervous.

That discovery being that if I was in prolonged battle there was a good chance I would run out of od, fail to have anything to defend myself with, and die.

She had at first assumed that since I was apparently so skilled with the sword that I would be similarly gifted at magic. I had had to disillusion her about that rather quickly. By the standard of my home world's magi, I had at best slightly above average reserves, and that was after several years of careful development. That meant I could trace maybe sixty of my weapons a day. That was if I was solely using my od for my tracing ability. The reinforcement needed to ensure I lived through magical strikes would also put a pretty good sized drain on my magic, and add to that that I prefer keeping a set amount untouched at all times for emergency purposes, and I estimated that in combat I would be able to trace maybe around ten weapons max. That would be more than adequate against the average noble in this world I presumed, but against one of the higher class ones, or a significant group of skilled casters and soldiers?

She quickly decided that it would be in my best interest to have a fall back sword, or more likely a primary weapon to wield. I actually approved of this. Having a single blade like that on me at all times would be a large relief on my potential combat reserves. It's much more efficient to simply reinforce a normal sword then to trace a new one each time I needed it. The only reason I hadn't gotten one already was because back in my home world people notice when you walk down a street with a sword on you and call the police. I wouldn't get that kind of attention here apparently.

This would allow me to save my traced weaponry for special occasions. I still hadn't revealed to my Master just what kind of weapons I had. I was thinking of keeping that in reserve for a special occasion where I could really make her gawk.

That had led to us abandoning school for the rest of the day and taking a three hour horse ride to the capital city of this country, a city called Tristain. I still hadn't learned the geography of this country very well, but it hadn't seemed important enough yet to pay attention to.

I was also taking the opportunity to study the general weaponry available here. It would be good reference for choosing which weapon would be more advantageous to call if I need it.

"Very well, mistress," he said, shooting me a careful eye. I probably didn't look like much of a soldier or guard, standing hands in my pocket and relaxed while wearing vaguely foreign looking clothes. I glanced back at him to meet his eyes. "And what type of weapon are you looking for exactly?"

Louise drew herself up to give a peremptory order, and then suddenly realized she had no idea what kind of sword I was looking for. She gave me a glance, inviting me wordlessly to step forward. It was a good sign that she was getting more comfortable around me.

With a pleasant grin at the salesman I comply with my Master's unspoken order. "I'm familiar with a variety of different sword types. Why don't you start by bringing me a larger blade, and I'll work my way down from there?"

The salesman gave a bow and turned to dip into the back, and now I was certain that the look was greasy. Looks like I was going to have to make a demonstration before I got this man to bring me the good stuff.

Sure enough, he came back with what was surely the most expensive blade in the shop. Louise's eyes lit up, and I could tell why. The sword was absolutely beautiful. He passed it to me with a professional smile, and I took it from him confidently.

"It's the best in the shop," he began his pitch. "Hand crafted by Germanian master alchemists. The sword will cut through iron like butter," he declared, as I carefully inspected the blade.

"How much?" Louise asked more for the sake of continuing the conversation as she carefully watched my reaction to the blade.

"Three thousand new gold," he declared confidently.

"You could buy a mansion and estate for that much!" Louise declared, shocked. I had as little experience buying a sword as she did, usually just recreating them later from memory, but even though I had no idea just how much a new gold was worth I could tell that he was asking for just way too much.

"A fine blade is worth as much as a castle," the shopkeeper declared, sagely stroking his chin. I could almost read his mind. 'Easy Pickings' was written all over his forehead.

Louise turned to me, grimacing over the price. "Well?" she asked.

"It's an exquisite blade, but it's useless," I tell her. The shop keeper looked affronted at my declaration, and I could see Louise getting ready to lambast the man for trying to rip her off when I continued. "See here, the sheen? The alchemist covered the blade and cross guard with a fine layer of gold, and the handle with white gold as well. Gold is too soft to properly hold an edge, and an unwrapped pommel will slip free from sweat. He also etched in fine silver scrollwork, and the jewels set in the guard and base both appear to be fine quality rubies set with a platinum latch. The blade itself lacks a proper fuller, which increases the weight, causing the wielder to tire quicker than one would want in battle, and the quillion is set loosely afterward so that the etch work could be inscribed in more detail." I swung the sword quickly in a series of loose armed moves. "It's also inordinately heavy at the tip, which allows for greater strike force at the cost of endurance, and while the grip is larger in order to balance the weight of the blade it also makes gripping awkward."

With a quick move I reversed the blade and offered it back to the salesman. "Like I said, it's exquisitely crafted, but it best serves as a decorative piece." I smile at him, making sure the expression was genial and honest. "Perhaps we could try again with a more functional piece?"

The shopkeeper looked astonished by my accurate appraisal of blade in front of him while Louise looked impressed. She took a cue from me and spoke up as well. "As you can see, my Servant has a fine eye for steel. If you can satisfy his standards, then there will be a good bonus for yourself as well." The man took the blade back shocked. He had obviously expected the girl in front of him to just be looking for a pretty little accessory for what was most likely a secret beau, only to find out that that beau turned out to be more than a pretty face. I don't hold it against him. If all I was looking for was a show piece, the blade he brought out was absolutely perfect for the occasion. From the corner of the room, I heard what sounded like the clanking of shifting steel, but when I glanced over I saw nothing but a few of his cheaper wares.

Changing his tone entirely, he asked me politely, "And what specifics should I look for?"

"I'd prefer a long sword length, modest cross guard, the presence of a quillion is unimportant, and single edged. No pommel accessories needed, though an appropriate size to act as a grip guard." My list is quickly delivered and he nodded his affirmative, his mind darting through his inventory for an appropriate blade.

From the same corner as earlier, a voice broke out into baying laughter. "Looks like the boy knows what he wants, eh salesman?"

A quick glance confirmed what I suspected. I casually rubbed my eyes, and looked again. The voice rang out again, "Got something in your eyes kiddo?"

"Louise," I asked calmly. "Did that sword just speak?"

She eyed the talking blade too. "Yes, it certainly seems so, Shirou."

"Ahh," I said in response and walked over to it. I reached out to grasp the handle, and then paused. "Do you mind?" I asked it as politely as I could when speaking to a talking sword.

"Go ahead kid. Your girl was spot on when she said you had an eye for steel," it encouraged me. I grasped the handle firmly with one hand and the scabbard with the other and drew the steel from the barrel it rested in. With a quick motion to shake loose and rust that might have bonded the sword and scabbard together, I bared four inches of the blade and studied it. It had a modest cross guard and pommel, with a single edge. It had no bevel, but felt light enough in my hand not to warrant it. The grip itself was tied with good rough cloth, providing a firm grip. "Oh," it said, the quillion on the blade moving as though a mouth. "You got a good grip kiddo. Tell you what, throw some gold at that man over there and I'll let you be my partner!"

"Hmmm," I said, trying to hide just how much I wanted that sword at that very moment. I finished unsheathing it and sighted it along my arm. It was rusty, and the blade had a number of slight dings, but it was un-pitted, no sign of corrosion from the rust. Oh dear sweet Feel of Heaven, did I want this sword. "Well," I said casually to the salesman. "It fits the criteria, and I do like a sword with character…

*Scene Break*

"Shirou," Louise said, her eye twitching, and her fists clenched as she eyed me strangely. "I'm glad you like the sword, but could you please stop rubbing your cheek against it? It's disturbing."

"I can't help it!" I said, feeling almost giddy. The sword, who had introduced itself as Derflinger seemed to find my reaction amusing and spoke up again.

"Ha! You really do have a fine eye for steel, eh Partner?" it said. It sounded like it was gloating, and I didn't blame it. It had probably been looked over and dismissed many times, and to suddenly find someone who could actually appreciate it and give it the praise it deserved was probably making the long centuries it had been neglected worth it.

"Fine steel?" Louise said, putting her arms on her hips and looking aggrieve. We had made it back to the castle and my unashamed display of affection for the blade clutched in my hands was drawing some strange glances. "You look like a rusty piece of scrap iron!"

"Yes," I agree wholeheartedly, "but it's a MAGICAL rusty piece of scrap iron!"

She sighed exasperatedly and put her hands to her forehead. "If all you wanted was a magical blade than I could have spent a few extra hundred and gotten you one that had at least a preservation charm on it," she muttered.

"Oi, oi! Stupid woman! Do you have any idea who I am? I'm the legendary Derflinger! To say that you'd rather have one of those poorly made pieces of junk that they're trying to pass off as blades in these times? Do you want me to come over there and smack some sense into you, girl?" Derflinger seemed genuinely upset by Louise's comment, and I don't blame him.

"What did you say, you hunk of broken metal?" Louise thundered, a clenched shaking fist holding her wand coming up. Alright, time for me to play peacemaker.

"Now, now, Derflinger," I said, addressing the sword first. "She just doesn't understand your splendor."

"I haven't been wielded on a thousand battlefields to be insulted like some kind of…" the sword began angrily, but I cut it off gently.

"I know that, and you know that, but she's pretty new to the sword trade, so she doesn't know that," I tell it gently. That seems to relax it a bit. Turning to the very pissed spitfire next to me, I started soothing her. "Master," I start gently making soothing motions with my hand. "You don't understand what it means to find a RUSTY magical sword."

"It means that I put far too much trust into your common sense?" she ground out.

"If it was just a magical sword I wanted, I have hundreds in my arsenal," I tell her bluntly. That snaps her out of her flunk instantly.

"What!" the question was echoed both from my Master and my blade simultaneously.

"I'll explain it to you later," I addressed the sword and turned to my gaping Master. "I told you before: tracing lets me recreate every aspect of any blade I see. That includes their magical properties. I've been on enough battle fields that I've picked up more weapons than you could readily believe. Some of the weapons I have can literally split mountains," I tell her bluntly.

"T-t-t-that's impossible! No sword can hold that much power in it!" she blurted out, jaw open. It was late when we got back from our impromptu shopping trip, and luckily there were very few students around to wonder what the two of us were arguing about.

"It's true," I tell her. "But what you have to understand is that magical swords are almost always made to be used. And they get used, hard. The more powerful the sword, the quicker it ends up being broken, or stolen, or lost, or whatever. The average lifespan is what, a decade, two tops?" I consulted the sword in my arms for a second opinion.

"About that much," it confirms, sounding pleased with just how knowledgeable I was turning out to be on this subject.

"And just about the first aspect of any magical sword is that it is preserved from the elements," I continue turning back to Louise who seemed to be having trouble following where I was going with this. "It means that for however long those lost swords are around, they just don't rust." I was almost gushing at this point. "For a blade as obviously magical as Derflinger, one that has actually achieved full sentience and not just steel awareness, to have rusted it means that it has to be at least what, two, three thousand years old?" I turned to the sword for confirmation. This declaration of age seemed to make Louise aware of just how big a find this was.

The sword was silent for a moment, and when it spoke it had an impressed tone to it. "Not bad, Partner. Every time you open your mouth you make me more certain that you were the one meant to wield me." It paused and then continued somewhat smugly. "And it's been six thousand years since I've been forged," it declares.

Oh dear Root of the World and that blessed whore that felt heaven. I have to physically suppress a moan of almost sexual pleasure.

"Six millennia," Louise whispered, too awed to even speak.

"It's probably older then the civilization that came before the civilization that came before the civilization we're in now," I whisper. "Do you have any idea how much it has seen, how much it has experienced? The knowledge and skills it has acquired?"

Louise gulped softly. "No wonder you had me tip the salesman."

Derflinger broke out into laughter at that. "You know what, you're all right too, girl!"

Whatever was Louise was about to say to that admission was interrupted as I suddenly found myself knocked to the ground. Derflinger was thrown from my hand as a great weight slammed into my back and sent me sprawling to the ground. Damn it! How could I have let myself get so distracted? I rolled desperately, hand out stretched to trace a weapon to strike at the one who had slammed into me when I suddenly found my face being liberally coated with saliva.

"Flame?" I managed to get out as the eager salamander croaked happily and continued to lick me enthusiastically.

"Huh?" both the sword and my Master said, stunned to immobility by what had just happened. Okay, seriously. This was getting just plain silly. What is it with me and reptiles all of a sudden?

Before I could properly contemplate that thought the great lizard happily crawled off of me, reached down and nabbed the collar of my shirt, and then dragged me off, croaking happily as Louise and Derflinger just stood there stunned.

*Scene Break*

"Now Flame," I began as the lizard dragged me through the hallways. "I like you, but I'm afraid that I don't LIKE like you. It's nothing personal, but it's just that, well, you're a lizard, and I'm pretty sure you're a male as well, and well, both of those factors don't really work that great for me…"

The happily croaking lizard paid my desperate attempts to diffuse the situation no notice and finally dragged me through a door to a darkened room lit only by candles and strewn with rose petals. I had been half joking earlier when I was trying to turn the salamander down, but now I was actually beginning to be seriously worried about this.

"Welcome," a voice said above me as I eyed the great lizard perched next to me like a cat happily croaking. Glancing up, I found that I was in the presence of Kirche. More specifically, of Kirche wearing what appeared to be racy lace undergarments and nothing else.

"Oh, praise the Root," I gasped out, relieved. "You sent Flame out to get me for you?" I said, desperately seeking assurance that I wasn't being abducted by an amorous six foot lizard.

"Huh?" she said, seemingly confused by my reaction. "Yes, I sent him to bring you," she confirmed. I sighed in relief, and she continued what sounded to me like a rehearsed speech. "Welcome to my sweet room, Emiya Shirou," she purred, and then paused, brushing one full lip with a finger in thought. "Or was it Shirou Emiya?"

"Shirou Emiya," I confirmed, too relieved that it was at least a human female and not a male salamander that had apparent amorous plans for me.

Wait a sec. Amorous plans?

"My secondary name is 'The Ardent'," she purred at me, her hands tracing up and down her exposed flank, trailing the underside of her rather noticeable chest. "But after I saw your battle against Guiche, ardent wasn't sufficient." Her fingers trailed down her full thighs. "I've fallen in love with you, Shirou Emiya," she breathed, her voice husky and heavy with desire. The very room was full of the scent of it. I found myself gulping nervously in the face of this whole new and completely unexpected assault. She slowly lowered herself till she was kneeling in front of where I was sprawled. Every movement she made was sensual grace given motion, pure liquid sex.

"Why I appreciate the frankness of your profession, and wholeheartedly admit that you are a fine woman," and at that she began to crawl towards me, her full bosoms heaving at the motion, her breath quickening, and I desperately hurried on, backing away as fast as I dared, "I feel obliged to mention that your familiar abducted me right in front of…"

The door behind me slammed open forcefully. Silhouetted from the hallway, Louise stood holding Derflinger in the crook of one arm, and looking like she would be very glad at this very moment to practice her newly identified talent for explosions. I wasn't quite certain which one would be her target, but honestly, I was completely fine with either one of us as long as it cooled the air in here fast.

"Zilperstone," my very angry Master ground out, apparently selecting the target she found most appropriate for her wrath.

"Ha ha ha! Partner, every time I see you I get more and more impressed!" Derflinger chimed in, apparently finding this situation to be the most fun its had in centuries. In all honesty, it probably was the most fun its had in centuries.

"Valliere?" Kirche asked, sounding surprised at Louise's presence, "what are you doing here?"

"Well, when your familiar drags my Servant away by force in my presence, I think my presence becomes quite natural, wouldn't you say, Zilperstone?" she said, her hand clenching and unclenching around her wand rhythmically.

Kirche turned to glare at salamander in the corner who'd been watching the whole scene with animal like amusement, all the while croaking in happiness of the presence of his master and his favorite eye scratcher. "Flame! I told you to wait till he was alone!" she scolded the lizard. The lizard just croaked happily and darted forward to nuzzle my back.

"Okay, seriously," I said, interrupting the mood. "What is it with me and reptiles lately? This is just getting bizarre!"

"Are you certain you didn't have some kind of connection with them before?" Louise asked me, her own ire temporarily side shelved at this strange development.

"You know," Kirche chimed in, her finger on her full lips again, "I've been wondering about that too."

Derflinger couldn't stop laughing. It would occasionally attempt to get a word in, but its own mirth kept it from doing so.

I shook my head rapidly, dismissing the growing concern I've been having with my scaly problem, and turning back to the task at hand. "Kirche, it's not that I'm not flattered by the offer, but I'm afraid I have to decline."

"Why?" she demanded of me, seemingly too distraught by my refusal to even notice Louise's presence any more. Instead, she crawled forward, till she was straddling me, pressing her chest into my face as she wrapped her arms around my shoulder and stared down at me longingly. "I love you, Shirou. My body aches for you. Please, why won't you love me back?"

'Because I'm growing increasingly certain that what you define as 'love' could more accurately be defined as 'interested in a passing fling before I toss you aside like a used tissue and find another boy toy'', was on the verge of my lips, but I suppressed it in the interest of diplomacy.

Instead, I decide that the best way to diffuse the situation would be the blunt truth. "Because I already have a lover," I tell her straight out.

"What?" two voices call out in shocked unison, while another just kept laughing uproariously. Kirche turned to glare at Louise, and Louise just stared at me in wide eyed shock before her eyes narrowed.

"That maid," she ground out, sounding like she was about to seek out a new target for her ventures into 'explosions 101'.

"No," I correct her instantly. "Back in my homeland." Both of the girls' eyes widened at that, and Derflinger managed to suppress his mirth long enough so that he could be sure to catch every inch of the drama unfolding in front of him. This was probably the most fun he's head in centuries. "Don't forget, I was summoned here, quite unexpectedly I might add. It shouldn't be a surprise that I have someone waiting for me back home."

Louise's eyes widened at that, as she realized just what I meant. She had pulled me without warning from my home, dragged me across unfathomable distances and then bound me into a contract of servitude. It was such an unimportant thing when the ones being bound were animals and beasts that couldn't speak. It was different when something you could equate yourself with, not a something but a someone, was being forced into the same circumstances. Suddenly in her eyes, it wasn't me that was the one who had been forcefully misplaced, it was herself. My example earlier of being forced to obey some stranger or face punishment, the same example that had opened her eyes to my circumstances suddenly had new meaning to her.

I had effectively become more than just a familiar or a Servant in her eyes.

And as profound an effect as that declaration had on my Master, it washed off Kirche like luke-warm water. She just smiled, relieved. "I don't mind," she declared, and leaned forward to capture my lips.

I stopped her with my finger, and without hesitation in my voice I informed her, "But I do."

She pulled back and regarded me surprised. Earlier I had been to off kilter to react properly. I had been off guard to her seduction and had acted unsure as I tried desperately to get a handle on the circumstances. Now I had recollected myself, and I was as firm as the mountains.

She held my gaze for a moment longer, and then a smile graced her lips once more. "If you think that that dissuaded me, you're wrong. It only made me want you more."

"Just keep wanting then." I got up and turned my back on her and with my Master and my Blade left.

*Scene Break*

_ It took Louise a good long while to go to sleep that night. That Kirche, she thought angrily in her mind as she lay there. That Kirche and that Servant! She wasn't quite sure who she was more angry at. She glanced to the side, exposing her face slightly from where it was buried in her pillow, partially concealed by her hair. Her Servant was lying there on that thin collection of blankets he called a futon. It looked uncomfortable to her, nowhere near as soft as her down mattress, but he seemed happy by it. _

_ The fact that her Servant already had a lover had come like a bolt of lightning for Louise. I shouldn't have surprised her actually. He looked older then her. Less older then her when he was asleep, she noted. As though some of the worries had been erased from him in his slumber and years were shed from him the moment he was no longer conscious. _

_ Stupid Shirou, she thought angrily in her head, not sure why he was being stupid but certain that he was none the less._

_ That night, Louise dreamed of swords and battle again. The first night it had been exciting. The second, it had been disconcerting. Each night after that had shown her some new battle field, some new violence._

_ That night, Louise dreamed of something besides swords and battle. She dreamed of swords and battle and sex. She blamed Kirche for that. Stupid Kirche._

_ Her young Servant was there, as was the girl in blue, the Saber. There was another with them, a girl with dark long hair, a bright red shirt, and a short dark skirt. Going with her previous assumptions, she assumed that the new girl must represent dream Kirche._

_ She hoped dream Kirche fell on a rock. It would be exceedingly easy, seeing as they three of them were running desperately through a dark forest, with the howls of a foul monster behind them, echoing as it hunted them._

_ Saber didn't look good in this dream. She looked tired, withdrawn, and weak. Louise wondered what that meant in her crazy dream world, seeing as the girl in blue was obviously some kind of representation of herself._

_ She didn't expect the three of them to seek shelter in an abandoned church. She didn't know what the three of them were talking about once they had found shelter, but she doubt it was that important. It was just a dream after all. She hoped this was the part where the girl in blue got up and beat the crap out of the girl in red._

_ She certainly didn't expect for them to…_

_ Dream Louise blushed. She decided then and there that this wasn't some kind of dream representation of her real life._

_ Because she certainly wasn't thinking about a kinky threesome in an abandoned church while being hunted by a monster._

_ But if this wasn't just a dream, then what was it?_


	4. To be Drawn: The Fourth night

Hill of Swords

Author's note. And after a brief delay, chapter four is here! For those of you wondering why I suddenly took a few days when I've been pumping out chapters so quickly before, well, I found the translations of the Familiar of Zero's novels online, and then promptly had to marathon them. That might have took up a bit more time then I intended. However, it did help me out with some planning elements. I was startled to see just how faithful the anime has been. Some of the scenes from the books were literally verbatim in the anime. The timing on a few of the episodes is different though, and I like the books pacing a bit better, so for those of you only familiar with the anime and were hoping for specific events, don't worry, they'll probably show up. Just not where you'd expect them.

*Story Begin*

"No," I told Louise flat out, sipping my tea calmly. The early morning sunlight lit the room with a soft glow, and made the scene have a peaceful feel to it.

"Why not?" the pinkette demanded, as she began to slip on the clothes I had laid out for her. It seemed that Louise had the peculiar sleeping habit of being completely unable to rest while wearing panties, so she usually slept in nothing but her night shirt. In deference to my male status, she had begun putting on and taking off her underwear while wearing the night shirt so as not to flash me her naughty bits, but seeing as I was still considered non-human by the standards of her culture that was the only concession she made for her changing. Once her panties were on, there were no more nudity taboos with her.

It was actually a practice I encouraged. It was a proper response to not think of Servants as people, my own practice notwithstanding. I answered her question. "Because it's silly."

"But it's a long standing tradition!" she argued, tugging a shirt on and beginning to button it as she puffed her cheeks up and pouted over my insistent refusal. "Second years are required to participate in the Evaluation Fair."

"And participate we shall," I confirm. "But if you're expecting me to go out there and do some wild performance, then that's where I have to refuse." That was the key of the morning's argument. When she had started speaking enthusiastically this morning over our morning tea of various ways for me to impress a crowd, I had been a bit confused. When she had told me that she was planning on having me stand in front of a crowd and start summoning my most impressive swords and swinging them around like an idiot I had switched from confused to disgusted.

"Why not?" she repeated again, fastening her skirt finally, and taking a seat again at the tea table. She began tugging a brush through her sleep ruffled hair, one of the few allowances to vanity she regularly made. "All it would take is you making some magic sword and going through a few sword forms and I'm certain that we could win!"

I sighed, and began my explanation, reminding myself that she was still young, and unused to what it meant to have a Servant. "First of all, it's because I don't know any sword forms," I informed her. She blinked at that, forgetting about her brush and staring at me.

"Don't know any sword forms? But you're a swordsman!" she declared, seemingly completely baffled by me not knowing any fancy ways to step around while swinging a sword at empty air like an idiot.

"It's just too impractical for me to study any forms," I tell her, and then start to explain. "Each different type of sword has a different way to swing. A long sword is made for crushing swinging blows, using its weight to force its way through armor. A gladius uses weight as well, but focuses it into thrusts. A falchion is meant to be a light cutting weapon that can change angles easily. A katana is meant for two handed precision thrusts or cuts." I list a few weapons and their basic uses. Many of the types of blades I listed were completely unfamiliar to Louise, but she listened raptly, already trusting my knowledge on weapons. "I have dozens of different types of blades. If I were to try and train exclusively in any particular type, then I would have to neglect the rest. Rather than gain a particular mastery in a particular type of blade, I rely on general experience with all of them, and then just make sure to choose the best blade to counter what my enemy is using," I explain. "Because of that when I train I rely on just training my body to easily perform any of the basic moves in succession after each other and the speed of my tracing."

"It's a good style," Derflinger said approvingly. "It's unconventional, but it plays to partners strengths perfectly."

"Shirou," Louise said, eyeing the blade strangely. "Why is your sword on a chair like a person? And why does it have a cup of tea in front of it?" I had propped Derflinger up on a small chair so that it could join us at the table, and had made sure to ask it how it liked its tea before pouring it some: two sugars and a bit of lemon.

"Just being polite," I tell her. "Just because it can't drink doesn't mean I shouldn't offer."

"It's been a long, long, long, long, long," Derflinger started listing longs, though in the middle of its list Louise turned back to me and continued the interrupted argument.

"So why can't you just go up there and make some really amazing blades? Even that would be enough to impress everyone," she pouted, still trying to convince me to act like an idiot in front of a crowd.

"Long, long, long, long," Derflinger continued in the background.

"First of all," I list, "being a Servant enough is impressive. If they don't understand that flat out, then me calling a few shiny sticks of metal isn't going to be enough to change their minds." That seemed to make sense to Louise and she sighed. She herself hadn't realized what she'd done when she called me here, and she was the one that did the calling! What else would everyone think compared to that? "Second of all, a Servant shouldn't go around displaying their skills in the first place. Servants should hold everything back till it's necessary in battle. Hell, technically, you shouldn't even be calling me by my name. You should be simply addressing me by my class title."

"Long, long, long, loooooooong, long , long," Derflinger continued, seemed enraptured in just how long it'd been.

"What do you mean?" Louise asked. She had become used to me knowing the proper etiquette for our situation, and no longer sounded confused or surprised when I explained something like this. She seemed perfectly content to learn the idiosyncrasies and then adapt them to her actions. Louise was apparently a firm believer in protocol, and had no hesitations about displaying the appropriate ones.

"Long, long, not so long, a bit longer than normal, long, long," Derflinger started added modifiers to his list of long.

"Servants tend to be very skilled, and the very skilled end up being very famous," I explained. "If the specifics of the Servant are known, the enemies can plan strategies that will cancel out the Servants strength, and exploit the Servants weaknesses. Because of that sometimes when a Servant is summoned, they won't even tell their Masters their names, much less start showing off their skills at a school yard festival," I finished.

"But didn't you show your skills once already?" Louise asked, referring to the time I nearly decapitated Guiche.

"Long time since I've been offered tea," Derflinger concluded happily.

"Would you like another?" I offered the sword politely.

"Yes please!" it declared cheerfully. I switched my empty cup with its, claiming its untouched tea as my own and then filled its new cup with the steaming black liquid and added the flavoring it declared as its favorite promptly.

Louise's eyebrow twitched at that, and she once more got distracted. "You can't even drink!" she snapped pointing at the blade.

"But I like the smell," Derflinger whined pitifully. I gave my Master a disapproving look at that, and she sighed and shook her head, put out upon by the idiocy that surrounded her.

Ignoring the brief interlude I continued our conversation from earlier. "I showed that I had two swords that may or may not have been summoned by magic, may or may not have been supplied by you, or may or may not have simply been cleverly hidden somewhere on my body," I corrected. "And even then, all they know is that I have two swords. They have no idea that I could have had others, that my swords might have special abilities, that I might have limits on the skill, or anything else." I sipped Derflinger's old tea. It had cooled slightly but was still palatable. "And that's the way I'm going to keep it till I absolutely have to."

Louise sighed bitterly at that. "But I really want to impress everyone," she mumbled. Ah. I think this was more of her inferiority complex shining through. After so many years of being dubbed a failure she was eager to in some way prove her own superiority to the ones who mocked her.

"Don't worry about impressing them," I comfort her. "I've no doubt you will do that soon enough. For now, just focus on improving your skills till you can impress them yourself." I reached across the table and placed a confident hand on hers. She gave me a wan smile at that, as though she appreciated the thought but doubted its veracity. I didn't make any other comment. It would take something impressive to shake her out of her funk, but I've no doubt it would come eventually.

Probably on a battle field, but there was no reason to worry her with that now.

*Scene Break*

"So what are you planning to do for the fair, Shirou?" Siesta asked me as she walked beside me.

"Saying my name and bowing," I told her bluntly. It was warm out, and since it was a particularly pleasant looking day, I'd decided to get some air while I worked. Louise and I had parted earlier, her having tasks to run. She'd taken my earlier advice about hitting the books and looking for precedents on human summonings to heart and often spent a good deal of her free time in the musty library pouring over old scrolls. She'd tried to order me to help, but once I pointed out that I couldn't read any of the characters of her language, she'd decided to let me off the hook. Besides, I had a few things of my own to take care of. While searching for a pleasant place to do my errand, I had run across Siesta in the middle of her chores, and decided to walk with her for a bit.

"That's it?" she said, sounding disappointed. "That's not very impressive," she decided, and sent me a pouty look.

"Well," I said, not feeling like explaining my reasons for doing so to her as detailed as I did for Louise, "it'd be hard for me to look impressive compared to that," I nodded to the courtyard we were passing. It was filled with students and familiars all working on their acts.

"I'm sure you could beat most of them!" Siesta declared confidently, and I nodded.

"Most of them, yeah. I mean, I'm probably more impressive than the cats and the dogs." Though it appeared one student had managed to get their familiar, a dachshund, to apparently balance on a brightly colored ball and do back flips. I'm not sure I could match a feat like that if I tried. "I could also probably outperform most of the birds." Again, there was one, a hummingbird, which was darting around in the air with a piece of string and spelling out words, though I hadn't the first clue just what they meant, that was really impressive. "But let's be honest: against some of the exotics I really just wouldn't have a chance." The bugbear, or whatever the heck that floating eyeball was, was transforming various wild animals, at least I hope they were wild animals and not some other careless students familiars, into creatively posed stone statues. I also saw Kirche standing beside her salamander and laughing maniacally as the lizard somehow managed to get the flame to warp midair after it left his mouth and make various patterns. I noticed Tabitha sitting in the corner, quietly reading a book and I nodded in her direction to Siesta. "I mean, Tabitha over there has a dragon. Compared to a dragon what judge is going to choose a human with a sword?"

"I guess," Siesta admitted, acknowledging the fact that I was pretty low on the totem pole when it comes to impressive looking familiars. "But I think that Shirou is the most impressive of them all!" she declared, whirling to stand in front of me and stomping her feet in emphasis of her declaration.

"Well," I said, not sure how to respond to being compared to a variety of magical animals and coming out favorably, "thanks for that, I guess." I noticed that Siesta had frozen, and was now staring over my shoulder with wide eyes. I sighed. "There's a big blue dragon directly behind me, isn't there."

I didn't even need to make it a question. I just knew. Siesta nodded wordlessly. I continued.

"It's making a really happy face at me, isn't it."

Though I'm sure Siesta hadn't been around Sylphid enough to be able to judge her facial expressions, the maid nodded again.

"And now its rearing back and opening its mouth, isn't it."

Before Siesta could respond, I felt my collar get jerked upwards and backwards, lifting me bodily into the air again. Even as I dangled there, Sylphid wrapped both of her large forelimbs around me, and then completed the enthusiastic hug by including her wings. The dragon then released my collar so that it could start rubbing her head against my cheek, cheerfully trilling a happy tune.

"Why don't you go on ahead, Siesta," I suggest to the maid, who had cocked her head to the side in confusion of my sudden predicament. I'd heard that rumors of my scaly circumstances had pretty much spread throughout the entire castle by now, but this was the first time she'd ever actually seen it happen.

"Yes," she said, her voice befuddled. "I think I'll do that. Have a good day, Shirou," she concluded, smiling brightly up at me and then turning around to leave me to my fate. Smart girl. I turned my head so I could look at the dragon who was still trilling.

"Well, I'm not going to be able to give you the food with you pinning my arms with the hug," I tell Sylphid, whose eyes widened as she too realized that. She tilted her large head to the side and screwed her eyes up in concentration as she tried to decide what to do. On one hand, she apparently really wanted to hug me, and was loathe to put me down. On the other hand, she also apparently really wanted the food I'd started to carry around on me for just such occasions, and was loathed to let the food get away from her. After a few minutes, her eyes widened happily as she figured out a course of action.

Biting my collar once more, she stopped hugging me and with me still dangling from her mouth happily she tromped across the courtyard, cheerfully scattering the other students without a second thought. The other students, more used to the sight of Sylphid dragon-handling me then Siesta was didn't even give the scene a second glance, though a few of the ones I was more friendly with waved at me in passing. I waved back cordially, already inured to my fate.

Finally, Sylphid arrived at her destination and dropped me, before lying down next to me and staring up at me with doe eyes filled with longing.

"Hello, Tabitha," I addressed the blue haired girl that the dragon had placed me next to, while reaching into the small rucksack of supplies I had. This time, instead of bread, I had managed to convince the chef to give me a good sized chunk of chicken breast. Sylphid's eyes beamed up at me with such pure joy that it nearly made the heart stop to witness it. Without another seconds delay, her tongue darted out, wrapped around the morsel, and a second later she was happily munching away, bones and all.

Tabitha said nothing at the scene, or at my presence. This wasn't the first time we'd found ourselves suddenly in each others company. Sylphid had apparently decided that since she liked her master, and since she liked me, she liked having both of us around at the same time even more. Though honestly, even the first time this had happened, Tabitha hadn't said anything either. She just kept her head buried in her book.

Well, at least she was consistent.

"Do you mind if I join you?" I asked anyway, for the sake of politeness. When Tabitha didn't say anything, I assumed it as an assent and sat down next to her.

"Well then, Derflinger," I said to the sword I had taken off my back and placed before me before starting to rummage through the rucksack, "You ready?"

"Absolutely, partner," it said to me, its quillion jerking up and down like a mouth. It sounded eager, and I don't blame it. It's probably been a long time since anyone even attempted to clean up the sword.

Displayed in front of me were a few basic supplies: oil I had gotten from the castle's stables that was used for the care of the metal work on the harnesses, some soft and coarse rags I had gotten from the kitchen that were used for scrubbing pots, and a grinding stone used to file nicks and sharpen the edges of the blade, also taken from the kitchen. Nobles apparently didn't hold much with swords in the first place and this was an academy so there was no armory or anything for me to get proper supplies from, so I had to improvise to get all this.

"Now," I cautioned the blade, "I've never done this before, so you're going to have to walk me through this." All of my blades just disappeared after I didn't need them, so upkeep was never very high on my list of concerns.

"No worries, partner," it declared. Patiently, it began to explain the process to me, how to use the oil to soak the rust, the coarse cloth to scrub it off after it had been loosened, the soft clothe to clean up the oil afterwards, and the stone to hone the blade itself. I'd probably get no further than the oiling today. Derflinger had accumulated a lot of rust of the years, so it'd take more than just one session to properly clean it.

As I carefully covered the blade with oil, using my fingers to work it deep into the coarse rust, I glanced casually over the assembled students all diligently doing their best to drill circus tricks into their companions. Curious as to just why this fair was such a big deal to everyone I spoke up, asking Tabitha, "Just why is everyone so concerned with this Evaluation Fair?"

I didn't expect Tabitha to answer in any way besides turning a page in her book, so I started a little when she responded back. "Princess," she whispered, and then turned the page like I had predicted. Do to her quiet and passive nature, I'd tentatively placed the blue haired girl into the 'unlikely to be an enemy' column, and combined with the fact that her familiar kept putting the two of us together, I'd been making the effort to at least be friendly to the girl, but this was the first time she'd ever responded to me directly since the day after my summons when she nodded to my question in the courtyard.

"Princess?" I asked back, a little confused by her perfunctory explanation. "There's going to be a princess in attendance?" She nodded. That would make sense I suppose. If royalty is going to be watching, then I could see why everyone would make an effort to at least not embarrass themselves. But if that was the case, why would Kirche be going out of her way? I'd heard the story from Louise the night I'd first been targeted by the busty red head. It seemed the Valliere and the Zerbst, which was Kirche's family, were on opposite sides of the border between their two countries. Consequently, whenever tension broke out between the two countries those two families were amongst the first to butt heads. It was a feud that had been going on for centuries.

Tabitha seemed to notice my gaze and confusion, despite never taking her eyes off the page in front of her. "Prize," she supplied. Ah. If there was a prize for first place, then that would explain everything.

"Thanks," I told her politely.

She shook her head in response. "For feeding Sylphid," she explained.

"Well then, you're welcome," I returned, and without another word we both turned back to our own tasks, neither one of us really feeling the urge to talk. We managed to keep ourselves in our own peaceful worlds till Kirche noticed me. When she called me darling, Flame, who had been in the middle of breathing flame suddenly turned his head to face me, and Tabitha had to cast a protection spell to keep the two of us from being fried by the careless salamander. As both affectionate lizard and affectionate red head came charging towards us in order to smother me with affection, we both sighed and put away our supplies, resigned to the fact that the peace had been shattered.

*Scene Break*

"Any luck then?" I asked Louise while we sat drinking tea before bed, as was becoming a habit for the two of us.

"None," she sighed. "I've checked all the sections that are available to students, on every subject related to familiars that I could find, and a few that aren't, and I've still found nothing on human familiars." I nodded at the news, and put a tea cup in front of her. She had already changed for the night, and I'd made sure to put the laundry in the corner already while she did so. She took the offered cup of tea, and blew on it lightly, before taking a sip. She smiled in obvious pleasure at it, giving me a warm glow of pride. Nothing is quite as satisfying as watching someone enjoy something that you prepared yourself.

I pulled up a chair myself, joining her at the table. Derflinger was placed there as well, though he was being silent at the moment. "Well," I acknowledged, "it was a long shot." She just moodily stared at her tea. "So which are you going to try next? The over powering theory or the affinity theory?"

She sighed again, and put the tea down before throwing both her arms over the table and slouching down till her chin rested on it. "I don't know how to do anything about either one. If it was the over powering theory you came up with, than I don't have any idea how to go about correcting it. As far as I can tell, no one has ever even heard of such a thing before. And if it's the affinity theory, than that would mean I'd have to find some specifically destructive spells. That kind of thing isn't exactly taught in school." I nod my head. It wouldn't do to have an entire school of over powered hormonal teenagers with puffed up self importance know too much about magic specifically meant to destroy. They managed to come up with that well enough on their own.

"Then the only thing to do is self experimentation," I conclude. Louise nodded at my conclusion.

"It would be best to do it outside of the school," she continued. "If it is something like explosions, then I might get in trouble if it turns out you're right and I accidentally destroy something important. And if it's just a matter of me over powering…" she trailed off, looking uncomfortable, so I finished it for her knowingly.

"You'd rather not anyone see you making a fool of yourself trying to figure it out?" She bit her lip and nodded reluctantly at that. "Well then, Master. Would you like for me to scout the area tonight and find an appropriate place nearby in which to practice?"

"Yes," she said, turning my suggestion into her order. "Some place close enough that it won't take too long for us to travel there, but far enough that no one will be disturbed by any potential failures. Preferably somewhere open, like a glade or such." I nod my head at the specifics, committing them to memory and preparing myself for a few hours out and about in the night.

"Understood, Master," I gave my typical response to her whenever she gave an order. She gave me a small smile, peeking out from beneath her hair where she was still lying on the table bonelessly. I decided to change the topic. "So what's the deal with you and that princess?"

"What?" Louise gaped at me, sitting up ramrod straight at my sudden question. Earlier during the day, all the students had been gathered together in order to give a proper greeting to the arriving queen. She'd shown up in a parade of carriages, which of all things had been drawn by unicorns. There had been a general murmur from the crowd when the queen came out, and do to the difference in size between me and most of the students I'd had a pretty easy time seeing her, even though I had been stationed in the back do to my status as a familiar.

"You had a look on your face like you were thinking of something important," I explained.

Louise relaxed a bit at that, though her face looked a little troubled. "I-i-it's nothing," she stuttered in the way she only stutters when it actually is something.

I took a stab in the dark. "If you're plotting a revolt, then you need only give the order," I inform her helpfully. "But you should be warned that even someone such as I would have trouble if our involvement became known and the army was deployed against us."

"W-w-w-w-what? R-r-r-r-revolt!" Louise gasped, sounding outraged at the very idea of it. She slammed both her hands down on the table, rattling the tea cups. "There will be no revolting against the queen!" she ordered instantly.

I nodded. "So there will be no assassination then?" I asked just to confirm.

"A-a-a-a-assassination!" Louise face turned very red and her free hand started inching towards her wand without her realizing it.

"Um, partner," Derflinger said, sounding nervous, "don't forget to take me with you now. That girl tends to get indiscriminate when she gets riled up."

"Right," I acknowledged, quickly getting a hold of my blade and backing away slowly from the enraged pinkette. "It's getting late and I'm sure you're getting tired, so I'll just be getting on that searching for an isolated location right now…." Though my Master was generally very good at not back sliding into her original habits, I'd discovered that every once in a while she would display, um, excessive zeal in the area of discipline.

"Get back here, you dog!" she screeched as I quickly threw the door open and tried to make my escape. I was halted unexpectedly when I found myself colliding with a hooded figure that had been directly in front of the door and about to knock. Louise paused as well with the sudden witness to her planned murder.

"Um," the figure said softly, and then darted into the room. "Pardon my intrusion!"

I'd gotten used to the fact that my first response in this new world didn't necessary have to be violence. Thus, in this particular instance I allowed my first response to be shutting the door.

Naturally, my second response was to place my hand on Derflinger and prepared to draw it if necessary.

"Who are you?" Louise said, sounding nervous by the fact that some stranger from nowhere had just invaded her room, but when she affirmed the sight of me behind the intruder, she calmed herself.

"It's been a while, hasn't it, Louise Francoise," the figure said and lowered their hood.

Louise gaped. "Princess Henrietta!" she gasped, as the revealed royalty moved to embrace her.

"So I guess the two know each other," I mentioned quietly to the sword.

"Seems that way," the sword agreed. "Looks pretty amicable. Guess that's why she got so upset when you offered to assassinate her," it concluded.

"Wait, what?" the princess said, apparently not having caught the little aside me and the sword had completely, but having heard a bit of it. Louise glared at me over the princess' shoulder and made a threatening motion across her neck at me.

"Nothing at all," I declare instantly. "So how do the two of you know each other," I prompt, changing the subject quickly.

"I had the honor of being a royal playmate in our youth," Louise supplied, looking shy as the princess turned back to her, taking my word for it when I dismissed her question.

"Can't you not say we were simply childhood friends?" Henrietta sighed, looking disappointed at Louise's declaration. "Ah, how I've longed to meet you again," the princess declared, seemingly honestly touched to be reunited with her long past friend. Then she turned to eye me embarrassedly. "But it seems I have interrupted your time with your lover," she apologized, looking discomforted at her timing.

"L-l-l-lover?" Louise gaped, turning red again in embarrassment. "He's not my lover, he's my Servant!" Henrietta gave her a puzzled look at the declaration. I was rather pleased with the fact that even when overcome with distress my Master got the title right at least.

"But isn't it more appropriate for an attendant this late at night to be female?" Henrietta asked, confused.

"Servant is the technical term for a human familiar," I supplied, still leaning against the door.

"Wouldn't it just be easier to give in and use the term' familiar'?" Derflinger suggested. "You're going to get that kind of mistake pretty often, partner."

"Then I'll make the correction pretty often too," I tell the sword, crossing my arm stubbornly. "It's a matter of pride."

"Forgive him, princess," Louise quickly said, stepping in between the royalty and myself. "Why aren't you bowing?" she half hissed, half growled at me.

"Technically, as your Servant, you're the only one I'm required by etiquette to defer too," I informed her. "It doesn't matter to me if the one in front of me is a beggar on the street or a king on a throne."

"You will treat the princess with the same respect you would me," she ordered desperately, sending furious glances back and forth between me and Henrietta, frantically checking to see if I offended the visiting royalty.

"As you command, Master," I respond, and then went to one knee in as courtly a fashion as I could manage. "I am called Shirou Emiya, your highness. Please forgive my earlier misconduct if I have given offense." I hoped that would be enough for princess. I'm really not that up to date on the courtly ins and outs.

"There is nothing to forgive," the princess smiled at me warmly. "Your dedication to your Master is indeed praiseworthy." It appears my earlier declaration of intent had impressed her. "Please, look after my old friend," she curtsied to me lightly.

"You need not ask that of me, your highness," I answered honestly. "It is my solemn duty to do so above all else." Louise seemed satisfied with my response, and Henrietta smiled even further.

"If only more among the court were so loyal as you," she declared with a smile, and then offered her hand to me. Louise gasped, though I could only stare at it dumbly for a moment.

"Master," I said finally, speaking in a whisper and ignoring the fact that the princess could probably hear me just fine. "I'm still unfamiliar with certain customs of your land. Am I supposed to shake the hand or something else?"

"She's offering you the chance to kiss her," Louise whispered back.

"On the hand?" I asked for confirmation.

"Where else would you kiss the princess?" she whispered back, sounding outraged that I would consider placing my lips on the princess anywhere but the offered digits.

"Gotcha," I concluded our conversation, and turned back to the princess who had regarded the whole thing with a kind of wide eyed bafflement. Taking her hand in mine, I placed a brief kiss on the back of her knuckles. "Like that, right?"

"Exactly," Louise confirmed, seeming miffed at my inexperience, and humiliated that I was putting such a show on in front of someone she obviously thought so highly of.

Henrietta took the hand that she had offered and used it to cover her mouth as she began to giggle at our behavior. "It is most comforting to see you two get along so well," she declared. She pulled her hood back up and made her way to the door. Louise and I both stood as well, and I made sure to open the door for the exiting girl. "Good luck tomorrow, the both of you."

"Well, you get final say in the prize, so if you really want us to have good luck…" I began, and Louise promptly slammed her foot down on mine to shut me up. The princess giggled again, and then made her way out into the night

*Scene Break*

"See," I told her, comforting her with an 'I told you so'. "I told you so."

"Well, at least you were well received by the crowd," Louise said sarcastically.

"I take some comfort in that, actually," I responded honestly. "The fact that they laughed us off the stage means that they're still not taking me seriously. Everybody who saw me almost kill Guiche has convinced themselves that it was no big deal, and everyone who just heard of it has decided not to believe in it."

"Is all you care about concealing your strength?" Louise demanded of me, whirling on me angrily. "I barely had the opportunity to announce you as my Servant before everyone there was shouting out, 'Oh look, it's Louise the Zero's commoner' and 'Ha, ha! Another failure, Louise?'!" Louise kept pace with me the entire time she was ranting, until we cleared the nearby wall and started to make our way into the courtyard so outside her dormitory. She was so busy venting at me, that the only thing she did when I suddenly stopped was stop herself so that she could continue to pepper me with her angry recounting of the disaster at the festival from a few minutes ago.

"Well, don't worry," I tell her, my face expressionless. "I'm sure you'll have a chance to prove them wrong."

"Oh?" she continued ranting, both of her tiny hands clenched into fists and shaking at her side as she arched her back like an angry cat again. "And when is that going to happen? Argh! The princess was there too, and she saw me getting laughed at," she muttered, stomping her feet.

"Well, how about stopping what appears to be a thief on a hundred foot tall rock golem from breaking into the academy," I suggested, my eyes locked over my Master's head.

"And where am I going to find a thief on a hundred foot tall rock golem?" Louise demanded of me, rolling her eyes at the suggestion.

"Right behind you would be a good place to start," I answered, pointing with one hand, and putting the other hand on Derflinger. Even as my fingers grazed the hilt, I noticed again the runes on my hand beginning to glow like they did when I wielded steel against Guiche.

"Huh?" Louise managed, her rant's momentum broken as she glanced over her shoulder and saw that yes, there really was a gigantic earthen monstrosity behind her, and that the rider on its shoulder didn't look to happy for us to be witnessing its presence.

The figure, robed so securely that I couldn't identify their gender, called down to the two of us, me patiently awaiting a reaction and Louise frozen in her tracks by this unexpected development, "Not your lucky day!" The golem's massive arm, as big around as three of me stacked on top of one another came down faster than I thought possible to crush the two of us like a bug.

Even as Louise 'eeped' in surprise, I wrapped the arm not drawing Derflinger around her slim waist, reinforced my legs, and kicked away as fast as I could. Once more, the sheer speed of my movement surpassed anything that should have been possible. Even as the air whipped through our hair, causing Louise's long locks to billow like crimson tracers behind us, my eyes settled on the glow emitting from my left hand. I see.

It seems that the contract had done more than just drag me across the improbable distances and given me an untrendy pseudo-tattoo. Time for me to put the theory to the test. I stopped several hundred feet away from where the golem's fist was just finishing caving in the earth on which we once stood, and Louise's frightened eyes looked up into mine.

"Withdraw to a safe distance, Master," I order her, my tone once more like ice. I turned my attention wholly on the golem in front of me, and the figure which was regarding the two of us with what I assumed to be surprise at our survival. "Derflinger," I said, drawing the ancient blade.

"Aye, partner," it agreed, sounding eager.

"It's time for us to see how well we work together," I informed it.

"Show me your best, partner, and I'll give you mine," it proclaimed cheerfully. And as the two of us prepared to enter combat…

"No!" my Master declared, darting past me. Her jaw was determined, and she planted her feet shoulder width apart and raised her wand in front of her, already chanting. The golem and its caster, seeing her priming for a spell, were quick to react, driving the fist of the huge creature at the diminutive figure of my Master.

Damn, I swore in my head. There was no time for me to say it aloud, as I was already moving. I wasn't certain what the consequences of disturbing my Master's incantation would be. Louise's magic was already by nature volatile, and there was no telling what might happen if I disturbed her before the incantation was finished. It might just back fire and end up killing her itself. The only option was to stop the fist first.

With several tons of rock coming down, I did the thing which I have learned to do the most: I trusted the steel in my hand. Reinforcing myself to the maximum of my ability, and trusting in the strange power that the runes in my hand seemed to impart to me, I moved like a steel whirl wind. Darting past Louise's still frame I met the fist several yards away from its intended destination, and darted past it. Aiming at the wrist I swung Derflinger at the thinnest point of the limb. The sword extended to its fullest length above my head, and was just long enough to sever all but the thinnest portion of wrist. Passing to the other side with the strike, I dug the blade deep into the earth, almost to its hilt. Using it as purchase on the otherwise flat ground, I stopped my momentum, coiled myself as tight as I could, and launched my entire body weight at the dangling appendage which was even now still heading to crush my master, and was also even now starting to regenerate from the damage I dealt it.

The force of my body hit the fist, and with all the strange speed of the runes and the power of my reinforced body, my momentum was enough to finish the severing and cast the fist to the side. It thundered past my Master, missing her by several feet, and the arm stopped when the golem summoner noticed my defense. My body bruised from the impact with the hard appendage, I took note of the fact that my runes had fallen dim, and that now all that moved my body was the magic I had placed there myself. I had traveled no more than a few feet from Derflinger, but with the magic behemoth already priming its second fist to finish the job of the first, I held my hand in front of me and prepared to trace a new weapon.

I had just the one planned for this thing.

However, that was when the duel between me and construct was interrupted. My Master had finished her incantation.

"Fireball!" she declared, and brandished her wand in front of her eagerly. For a second, nothing happened, and in one of those crystal moments that only come in combat I saw utter self condemnation appear on my Master's face.

And then the second passed, and two things happened: a small section of the shoulder that the caster was not standing on chipped and shattered. The second thing was that the wall of the academy behind it exploded with a force I could feel from here.

My Master had missed.

The caster looked behind them, startled by the sudden percussion erupting behind it, and I saw their frame straighten in glee. I took advantage of the distraction to reclaim Derflinger from the ground, and with a blade once more in my hand, the runes shown again. With the sudden lightness of my body present once more, I placed myself between my Master, who had fallen to her knees and hung her head at her performance, and the golem who was even now rearing back its hand to finish shattering the wall that had borne the brunt of Louise's assault.

"Master," I called behind me, the first words I had spoken since combat began, "are you well?" I demanded, refusing to take my eyes off the foe, which had scampered down the arm that had buried itself in the castle and was rummaging in the room that lay beyond.

"Again. I failed again," she muttered only in response. I took that as an affirmative. But however much I wished to close and deal with the foe before me, I maintained my position, standing sentinel between the fragile girl behind me and the immovable object in front. The duty of a Servant, above even that of striking down their enemies, is to protect their Master.

"Thanks a lot, kids," the golem's master proclaimed, sounding giddy. "I appreciate it!" As the golem turned to escape with the master on it holding their ill-gotten gains tightly to their chest, I decided that this just wouldn't do. Even as I noticed the fast shape of a flying dragon, Sylphid whom I could identify even at this distance, my eyes narrowed and I prepared a parting shot of my own.

As ice bloomed upon the giant of clay, cast by Tabitha who rode her familiar with grace worthy of Rider class any day of the week, I buried Derflinger in the ground and held both hands before me.

Trace on.

In my left hand blossomed a bow. It was recurved, and bearing a long string height, almost impossibly long for a person to wield. It had to be. This bow wasn't meant to fire simple arrows.

In my right hand, I traced Caladbolg II. It was a sword, a noble phantasm once carried by Fergus Mac Roich and was a cursed blade that was said to be able to cut through rock like water. It had been specifically reshaped to make it more aerodynamic. Resembling a gigantic screw with a handle more than anything else, I charged it with od, more od than it could handle readily, making it fragile, making it dangerous.

Making it a broken phantasm.

Notching the incredibly long projectile, the rune on my hand once more blossomed in light. It seems it wasn't just swords that caused this strange boost in my ability. As I aimed, I thought to take shot at center mass: the greatest target and most probable area to hit from this angle. However, as the runes shown I knew that if wherever it was I aimed would strike true, so I corrected my aim so that my target wasn't the golem, but the rider on the shoulder.

The rider had apparently turned back to gloat one more time, and having caught sight of me with weapon drawn had smirked visibly to my reinforced eyes right now. Almost mockingly they had the golem raise its hand to impede my shot.

I released the broken phantasm. The arm disappeared. Like the wrath of an entire pantheon of angry gods, Caladbolg II, specially modified to be the most destructive projectile it could be and charged past the point where even its mythical frame could handle it, destroyed the impeding limb utterly, shedding dirt and rock in a spray that stretched nearly twice the golem's height high into the air. The shock wave of the explosive force released tumbled Tabitha and Sylphid through the air, nearly unseating the rider and crashing the beast. It was only the safe distance the two were keeping to stay out of reach that kept them from their own damaged potential fate.

It is only thanks to the inherent density of the golem's arm that saved the rider. The arm had been enough to deflect the projectile, even if only minimally, and so after it finished destroying the limb it sheared over the rider and barely managed to clip the golem's head before continuing its fantastic arch. The part it did touch was destroyed as well.

In my reinforced eyes, the rider was no long laughing.

Good.

Meeting the magi's now frightened gaze with my own cold one, I began tracing a second projectile. Deciding that maybe taunting the wielder of immensely destructive power wasn't the best of ideas, the rider promptly set about attempting to break land speed records with it's now thoroughly maimed golem.

I completed my trace, but not soon enough. The golem had cleared the castle walls with its long stride, and was now purposely slinging itself low, impeding my aim. With narrowed eyes, I considered pursuing, but the voice behind me broke me from my battle lust.

"U-u-u-unbelievable…" Louise had breathed out, her voice sounding dry, echoing with sheer awe. A short distance away, Sylphid and Tabitha had landed, and though the dragon herself didn't seem too concerned by what she had seen, actually looking more eager to check if I had any food on me, the rider, whom for some reason had a little bronze crown perched on her blue hair, had once more completely disregarded her book in favor of studying me intensely. In the background I heard raised voices, guards both of the academy and of the royal type clamoring about, rushing to the scene too late.

"Master," I ground out, and when I turned to face her Louise flinched in front of me. "I would consult with you, Master, at a later time. I would consult with you most earnestly." Louise could tell. Tabitha could tell. Sylphid could tell. Hell, even the random guards who were finally managing to arrive at the scene could tell.

I was furious.

Louise gulped.

*Scene Break*

I was relaxed. Utterly relaxed. There was no tense bone in my body, no scowl on my face, no clenched fist. I sat at the table in Louise's room, a cup of tea before me. Beside me, propped on a chair with a steaming cup of tea in front of it was Derflinger. The sword had been silent since the battle. I'm not sure what it was thinking about, in its sentient steel, but whatever it was thinking it kept to itself. Thus was the prerogative of steel, so I made no effort to break it's silence. Sitting across from me was my Master.

She was nowhere near as composed as me. The hand holding her cup of tea was shaking, and even as she tried her best to sip the calming brew she held, more of it spilled than was tasted. It had been some hours since the two of us had confronted the thief, whose identity had been revealed to us as Fouquet the 'Crumbling dirt', a famous thief who made a habit of targeting nobles and noble treasure. I didn't care for the specifics. All that mattered to me was that they had been an enemy. They had been an enemy, and they had escaped. I hated when enemies escaped. They always came back tougher and stronger, wiser and more prepared for your techniques.

And I really hated that.

Louise was trembling. She had been trembling since the encounter had ended, during the questioning that followed, on the trip back to the room, during her changing, and while she sat, waiting patiently, for me to prepare the tea that now sat before us.

I decided to break the silence. "Was that your first battle?" As much as I wished to leap straight into the subject that I desired to consult my Master with, my Master's safety came first, above all else.

"Yes," Louise whispered, for once sounding like she looked: fragile and delicate. She was always a person who held herself upright, who somehow through her upbringing and character managed to portray herself precisely as she wished to be seen: a noble, a higher example of the social mores and responsibilities that she attempted to portray and the ideals that she constantly forced herself to live by. To see her so different was a little jarring.

"Any thoughts about it?" I encouraged, willing to shelve my concerns till she was at more stable ground.

"It was so fast," she murmured. "I barely had time to chant one spell, and before I knew it they were about to smash me."

"Yes," I agreed with her, and decided to hand her down some of my own hard won experience. "That's the way a fight usually goes. All those stories you hear about epic duels and grand confrontations stretching on for hours on end till both sides are proud and exhausted are the useless prattle of unrestrained romantics. A real fight is decided by whomever is the most willing to hurt the other, and whichever one is fastest putting that intent in motion."

"Like your fight with Guiche?" Louise asked, sounding very much like a scared girl who had just managed to survive staring up at an eight ton fist that was about to squash her like a bug.

"When he challenged me, that's the kind of thing he was expecting: a noble playing around with a commoner. He probably never even intended to really hurt me too badly. Because of that, my will to end the fight completely over shadowed his, and he froze. I actually held back a bit in the beginning of that fight. I wanted a chance to see how the magi of your land fought. But once he no longer was capable of showing me anything, then I moved to end it." My explanation seemed to be soothing to her. She'd come to trust my judgment in these situations, and my calm explanation could almost be seen as something as mundane as the lecture of one of her professors in a classroom.

Gradually during my lecture her shaking had began to subside. She finally managed to lift the cup of tea to her lips and sip it without spilling.

"What was that?" she asked me finally. "At the end, the bow and arrow?" Her eyes were wide, and I could see the unspoken question there. Still, I tried my best to dodge it.

"I did tell you that I was qualified for the Archer class," I reminded her, acting as though I misunderstood her intention.

"That's not what I mean," she snapped at me sullenly.

"I'm wondering too, partner," Derflinger spoke up, reminding both of us that the sword was more than just a piece of metal propped up beside us. "It may have been a while, but I know a noble phantasm when I see one. Not just a noble phantasm, but a broken phantasm at that. I might be six thousand years old, but even in that much time a broken phantasm isn't something you forget, no matter how rare it is."

"Noble phantasm? Broken phantasm?" Louise asked, her confusion apparent as she cocked her head to the side, the cup of tea in front of her stopped right before a sip, and little question marks seemingly appearing beside her head.

"A noble phantasm is an item or ability that is so legendary that it ascends into myth and gains incredible power," I explain, knowing the jig was up and surrendering to the inevitable. "They're items of immense power, capable of feats that can't easily be copied even through magic. They're the treasures of the heroic spirits."

"Heroic spirits?" Louise ventured. She seemed put out upon by the fact that every time she asks me to explain something I seem to bring up three more things each time that also need explaining.

"People who achieved such fame in life that even after their deaths, the worship and adoration of the people who tell legends of them allow their spirits to ascend to a higher level of power, and escape the usual cycle of what happens to souls after death." The concept was so alien to Louise that she had trouble wrapping her mind around it. "If it helps, think of it as someone who did something so incredible in life that they become guardian angels when they die. They in effect become semi-divine beings," I supplied. I wasn't too sure about the religious beliefs of this world, so I could only hope that Louise wouldn't descend into religiously induced hysteria and start denouncing me as a heretic.

"That's impossible," she instead stated. "There is only one god, and there is no way that a human can…"

Derflinger, surprisingly enough interrupts her. "Not at all, missy," it said seriously. "I've fought with and beside a few heroic spirits in my time. You see a lot in six thousand years that history forgets. Believe me, they're real." It was an unusual tone for the sword to take. Usually Derflinger seemed to take constant amusement at the follies of those around it, and that combined with the fact that it usually complained childishly every time something didn't go its way it was easy to sometimes forget the sheer weight of years the steel carried with it.

Louise glanced helplessly from blade to Servant, and when she saw the fact that both of us were being completely serious, and the solemn way with which we were treating the subject, she seemed to decide that even if she didn't believe us, she could at least humor us.

"So then what is a broken phantasm?" she instead asked, getting back on the earlier topic.

"It's when the wielder of a noble phantasm overcharges the noble phantasm to such a degree that it self-destructs," I tell her bluntly. There really wasn't any other way to describe it. "It typically allows the weapon to achieve an effect far greater than its usual ability, but at the cost of destroying it afterwards. The reason it's so rare, even among heroic spirits, is because most of the time the wielder wouldn't even dream of ruining so powerful an item." I give a smug grin at that. "However, for someone like me, who was only wielding an imitation of the weapon, it means that I can use it to simply up the power of my attack whenever I need to."

"That's a pretty scary trick there, partner," Derflinger acknowledged.

"So was that what you meant when you said you had swords that could split mountains?" she asked, putting two and two together.

"Yes. Since I only need to see a weapon in order to recreate it later, I've managed to gather together quite a few noble phantasms," thank you, Gates of Babylon. Your gift has been gratefully received.

"How many is quite a few?" Louise asked, curious as to the exact nature of my armory.

"A couple hundred," I admit sheepishly.

Louise and Derflinger both spit-taked. This was particularly amusing, seeing as Derflinger wasn't actually drinking the tea in front of him anyway. "A-a-a c-c-c-couple h-h-h-hundred?" Louise stuttered, her eyes almost literally transforming into descending spirals a she tried to wrap her head around the idea of her Servant casually bandying around legendary blades like she saw today.

Then her eyes narrowed and she clenched her fists. "You have hundreds of legendary blades, and you couldn't even use one of them today? We could have won the competition for sure!" she accused.

I stared at her blankly. "You wanted me to call forth a sword of immensely destructive power and wield it for the sake of what amounts to a talent show?"

"Yes!" Louise declared adamantly, fire in her eyes. "The queen would have been so impressed! She would have known that she could rely on me, and we would have won, and I'd be able to look down on the beaten Kirche as she begged me for forgiveness, and I would have been like, 'No! Grovel like the worm you are for forgiveness for your sins!', and Kirche would have been like…" Louise continued to rant, her eyes trembling with unshed tears of joy as she saw the scene in her head. She had even begun acting it out, standing beside the table and staring down at the imaginary parishers for whom she would show no mercy.

"That girl can be pretty scary, partner," Derflinger commented, sounding mildly disturbed by the scene before it.

"Truly, my Master is most terrifying," I agreed somberly.

It was when she started making hand motions for what I assumed was an imaginary whip that I finally broke her tirade. "As comforting as it is to know that your priorities are all in order, Master, I would like to return to an earlier topic with which I would like to consult with you."

My phrasing seemed to bring her out of her imaginary world, wherein she seemed to be grinding her foot onto some unidentified body part of some unidentified offender. "Huh?" she said, turning to blink at me twice

"Earlier, in battle, why did you not heed my advice and retreat?" I asked, my tone completely bland.

"As a noble, I would never allow myself to back down from such a conflict," she stated instantly, as though reciting something from memory that she had had drilled into her from a young age.

"And in doing so, you deliberately placed yourself before me and in the path of an enemy," I pointed out, my tone still bland. Louise seemed to have noticed my tone, and was starting to look a great deal less enthusiastic then she was earlier.

"Um, Shirou," she began. "Are you angry?"

"Yes," I said in the same tone. "I'm furious." And then I smiled at her. She 'eeped' in response. I don't blame her. This was the patented Tohsaka Rin 'I'm so amazed by the stupidity of what I just witnessed that it is only this smile which is keeping me from coming over there and beating aforementioned stupidity out of you' smile. Like her poses, Rin had some very expressive smiles. I pointed at the chair she had left.

Louise seemingly teleported herself back to her seat, placing both of her hands on her knees and bowing her head contritely, looking up at me from her lowered position with eyes that seemed to scream 'I'm a little girl! Please forgive me!'

"I would have you explain to me why you did not heed my advice in battle. Please do so now," I nodded my head. The smile on my face grew wider.

"U-u-u-um," Louise stuttered, shrinking even further. "A magician that abandons their familiar is not a magician at all?" she finally supplied to me in a small voice.

"And in what way is withdrawing to a safe position abandoning me, Master?" I asked, tilting my head curiously. "If a magician that abandons their familiar is not a magician at all, then a Servant who allows harm to come to their Master is not a Servant at all. A servant is not a person, they are a weapon. They fight and die at their Master's command. They are wielded by their Masters to destroy or delay the Masters' enemies. The proper place for a Servant is on the field of battle, serving as the sword and the shield that defends the Master behind them. For a Master to attempt to join the Servant on the field of battle, it is most troubling for the Servant."

This is karma. I just know it. This is cosmic retribution for all the times I must have worried my own Servant like this. I'm certain that Root of the World was responsible for this. I am equally certain that this was proof that the Root was in some way intelligent, and possessing of a malicious sense of irony. It was the only logical explanation for these circumstances.

"But I had to do something!" Louise finally rallied enough gumption in the face of my silent wrath that she tried to defend her actions. "I can't just be the Zero anymore," she declared, nearly sobbing. "Even though I summoned such a powerful Servant, I just keep failing. Even today…" she ran out of steam, collapsing in on herself and looking truly pitiful. "Even today I just screwed up again. I'm just good for nothing, Louise the Zero."

"Besides my Master's choice of position," I informed her, "the only failure my Master committed was in not correcting her aim."

"But my spell didn't do anything. It just chipped the golem's shoulder. You're arrow destroyed an entire arm! Even when you were just swinging your sword, you managed to cut off its entire hand!" she argued, determined to find fault with her actions beside her inability to find an appropriate place to chant in.

"Yes," I acknowledged. "Your spell, through a glancing hit only managed to chip the golem. Whereas Tabitha, who is already acknowledged as one of the most powerful students of your class, failed to do even that when landing a direct hit." My point made her jaw drop and her eyes widened. "You are still unfamiliar with combat, which is why you did not notice that detail. I may assure you, I did notice it. If you are so determined to assist in battle, then let us take this night to devise proper strategies for doing so." My smile widened even further. This time Derflinger joined Louise in her 'eep'. Yes, Rin's smiles were seriously that scary. "And in the future, your Servant will be most eager to provide assistance in developing your skills to the point where they will be applicable to the battlefield." Louise shrank till only her eyes were peeping out from beneath the table. Somehow, Derflinger managed to do the same. "Your Servant guarantees it."

*Scene Break*

_Louise stared out from beneath the covers she had hidden herself in. Okay. Her Servant was definitely cooler than a dragon or a griffin. In fact, her Servant was probably cooler than a dragon and a griffin combined. A Driffin? A Gragon? It didn't matter._

_That being said, she made it a point to try and not get her Servant that angry ever again. It was like staring down an angry big sister Eleanor. An angry big sister Eleanor that could also summon monstrously powerful weapons capable of devastating entire castles. _

_She wasn't certain why Shirou was so willing to serve her. He had already admitted that by the standard rules, he could go off and do whatever he wanted to, yet for some reason he seemed content to stay and help her. And help her he did. He had protected her willingly and ably today, and had on more than one occasion helped her, pointing out how to improve her own abilities, giving her the confidence to continue trying to improve._

_Still, even though she was happy to have someone like him to serve her, she couldn't help but feel saddened by his words earlier. She acknowledged that it was typical to regard a familiar as something less than human, but that was because typically they weren't human. For her Servant, a young man who was nearly an adult, probably only two or three years older than herself, to so casually and completely think of himself as nothing more than a weapon somehow made her feel unpleasant. _

_That night, Louise dreamed of swords and battles._

_In that dream, her Servant stood against a woman this time. Casting a glance at her Servant's enemy, Louise found herself sincerely hoping that these dreams were in some way prophetic. Even if the outfit was a bit scandalous, the lavender hair, tall frame, and the lush body that the woman possessed made Louise sigh in envy. The only thing she had in common with the enemy in her dreams at the moment was that they both had unusual hair shades. _

_As the battle progressed, Louise wondered at the flow of time in her dreams. She couldn't make hide nor hair of the chronology of what she witnessed. Some events seemed to be shown that had events leading up to them omitted. Others followed each other one after another. Maybe she should consult with Shirou about this? Were the dreams something that she put together from her own subconscious, or were they something else?_

_As she mused, she watched her Servant get beaten, the strange nails with chains that the enemy wielded cutting into him over and over again, and Louise felt her heart tighten. The dream Shirou wasn't anything like the awake Shirou. The dream Shirou didn't have the overwhelming confidence, the skill that the other had._

_Louise's breath caught in her throat as she finally watched the younger version of her Servant get thrown from the window. _

_Before he struck, the ground beneath him flashed a blinding light, the air around it warping._

_And then the girl in blue came forth. As Louise watched, the girl in blue fretted over the wounds that her Master had received. _

_And though this scene somehow helped Louise understand the worry that her Servant had shown her earlier when he had dressed her down for getting involved in the battle so recklessly, Louise couldn't help but snort. Her Servant was a hypocrite, it seemed._


	5. To be Drawn: The Fifth night

Hill of Swords 5

Author's note: I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter. It has the longest action sequence I've ever written, and if anyone has any comments on that particularly, feel free. Feedback would be nice for adjusting my writing in the future. Let's see, a few notes for the F/sn crowd. Hrunting was used in the Fate/hollow ataraxia, a work I only have passing knowledge of, but only as an arrow. I feel I managed to keep pretty close to the spirit of the sword from the myth. Kamaitachi was my own invention. It you want a reference, think of the anime during the scene where Gilgamesh throws a chain scythe at Saber, and you have what I was aiming for. Couldn't find the actual name of the specific weapon, so I tried my best to make one that seemed appropriate.

*Story Begin*

It was the day after the golem incident. Though I had made it a point to properly display my displeasure with Louise's actions last night, I had also made it a point to give her appropriate time to sleep. Honestly, when I thought about it, it was partially my fault as well. I had become too complacent with the generally peaceful aura of the school and allowed myself to slacken in my attentiveness to my duty. We should have had a proper strategy session the day of my duel with Guiche, the moment she came to understand that I would be serving as her sword and shield and not as her butler and maid.

I silently strengthened my resolve to act in a more appropriate manner in the future.

Nonetheless, it looked like ensuring that Louise got enough sleep to be ready for school had been a bit of a waste. We hadn't even made it to breakfast when the rumor mill reached us, informing us that today was going to be an all day study hall as the teachers all desperately ran around like chickens with their heads cut off, pulling their own hair while trying to decide on whom to place the blame.

Except for that one Professor, Professor Colbert. He didn't have any hair in the first place.

Still, despite the circumstances, it was time for me to put into motion something I had been planning for nearly a week now. I had come to call it 'Operation AHA' in my head.

It was midway through the breakfast hour. The students were all busily gossiping away, picking away at their gourmet food with enforced daintiness, and I had already finished my own humble fair in the cafeteria. It went about as it normally did, with me talking freely with Siesta, whom had taken to having breakfast at the same time with me, and the head chef who had discovered that I was a cook of some small talent myself. We had begun to swap recipes, though it seemed as though most of the ingredients and spices that were common in my own style of cooking were less common in this country. A pity. I was reaching the point where I would commit dark and despicable acts for some decent Miso soup and pickled radishes. They didn't even know what a pickle was in this country.

Truly. Barbarians.

Still, I had joined the rest of the familiars, bearing in hand my usual offering of peace for the great bottomless pit which was Sylphid. The dragon clasped her forelimbs together below its head, her wings fluttering behind it in the way Kirche had started fluttering her eyelashes at me whenever she noticed me looking in her direction.

Launch Operation AHA.

Usually, the way it would go down was that I'd peacefully surrender the squirreled morsel to the beast, and then it would casually collapse on the ground, providing me with a warm back rest to seat myself against while it crooned happily and the two of us waited for our respective Masters. And yes, I would end up sitting against her: any action otherwise would resort in the dragon enforcing my sitting through liberal use of its prodigious size, dexterous limbs, and its ability to completely encircle me at whim in order to deny me escape.

These were tactics it used quite liberally against me, and not having the heart to take blade against the adorable creature, I had capitulated and given in to her demands. It would have been like kicking a puppy not to, and for all the fact that I would ruthlessly kill my enemies on the battlefield, I'm still not that blood thirsty as to kick a puppy for no reason.

Today, however, when Sylphid happily launched her tongue at the large drumstick I was holding, I instead dodged the attack, moving my hand just slightly out of the way. Shocked, Sylphid froze, staring up at me with wide eyes.

"Sylphid," I said, my voice exaggeratedly remorseful. "I've been a bit worried. It's just, it doesn't seem fair for me to always be sneaking you treats like this while ignoring all the other familiars." I gave an exaggerated wave at the hoard of little beasties that surrounded us. Most of them didn't pay the two of us any attention at all. They were all for the most part easily cared for, receiving more than enough food before hand, and usually took advantage of the time when their masters were eating to sleep off their own meals. If I were to hazard a guess, the only reason Sylphid wasn't in that state herself was because she was just too big to be satisfied by the fare the academy provided. Add on to that the fact that the dragon was big enough to hunt outside on its own, I had reasoned out that the reason she was always so happy to see me, well, besides from my strange and sudden affinity for giant reptiles, was that she knew I always went out of my way to feed her.

At my proclamation, Sylphid turned big teary eyes at me. I marshaled my resolve and pressed on with the operation. "It's just, it seems so cruel; to only feed you, never giving the rest a chance to get a little extra as well. It would make you sad if you only saw me feeding another familiar all the time, wouldn't it?" I asked. The dragon reluctantly nodded her head, seeming loathe to part with the opportunity to chow down on the delectable morsel in my hand, but unable to deny the logic I was arguing with. Still throughout it all, Sylphid never took her eye off the drumstick.

I began waving it back and forth in front of her nonchalantly, and her head followed it without hesitation, her large black eyes wide and staring.

I continued, still taunting the beast in front of me with the bait. "It's because of that, that I decided for today I would give Flame the food instead." A short ways away the salamander perked up from where it was drowsing in the sun at his name. It looked over at me and croaked happily. Sylphid's eyes darted up from the morsel, staring up at me with a betrayed gaze. I made my expression remorseful, and scratched the dragon's eyes. "There there. It's not forever," I cajoled the beast, who was beginning to melt under my fingers, and the eye scratching skills I had developed over the last few weeks. "It's all in the name of fairness. You wouldn't want to make the other familiars jealous, would you?" I asked innocently, and again Sylphid gave me a reluctant shake of her head 'no'.

"Well then," I declared cheerfully, stopping all scratching instantly. Sylphid jerked at the sudden absence of my fingers. "I guess I better head over there and give Flame his turn!" I turned away without a second glance, pretending to ignore the way the dragon had started creeping after me, her head jerking around behind me as she tried to get a straight shot at the drumstick I was waving nonchalantly around. "And since I spent a week with you, it's only fair that I spend a week with Flame next, right?" Sylphid froze completely. I continued to walk away, pretending not to notice. "And after that, I should spend a week with all the other familiars! There's only, oh a good hundred and fifty of them," I added, glancing around theoretically. "So it should only take about three years before it's your turn again, Sylphid!" I enthused.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sylphid's frozen body begin to tremble.

"Now then," I crooned, approaching Kirche's salamander. He croaked happily at me, not following the conversation but glad to have me nearby. I began shamelessly scratching his eyes, and dangled the food directly in front of it. It croaked happily, snapping at the drumstick that I casually teased out of reach. Flame seemed to enjoy the game, and was soon cheerfully darting around, the distance between his jaws and the drumstick decreasing which each attempt.

A shiver, starting at Sylphid's nose, passed through her body. It traveled like a visible wave down her neck, through her wings, across her back, and ended with her tail thumping rhythmically against the ground. All the while, the dragon's eyes never left the drumstick.

Just a little more….

"Say, ahhhhh," I told the salamander, and it sat still and opened its mouth, eyes closed as it croaked excitedly. Slowly, I lowered the drumstick into his waiting jaws….

"Nooooooo!" a voice behind me called, and I had just enough time to reinforce myself when I was tackled from behind by a ton of desperate blue dragon. "You can't big brother! You can't!"

Pinning me from above, with her two forearms on either side of my head, and her entire body above me, back arched like a particularly angry cat, Sylphid desperately shoved her face next to mine. "You can't go away for three years, big brother! Kyui! What will Irukukuu eat? Who will hug and pet Irukukuuu? Kyui, Kyui! No, big brother! Nooooooo!"

With a satisfied smirk on my face I pointed up at the dragon and said, "Aha!"

Suddenly realizing that she had spoken in front of me, the dragon's eyes widened and it sat back quickly, putting both of her paws in front of her mouth. "Eeep!" she declared frantically, eyes widened.

I knew it.

*Scene Break*

"Wah!" the great blue dragon cried shamelessly. "I broke my promise with big sister! What was it that big sister said? She said, 'never talk in front of anyone, Irukukuu!' That's what she said! Kyui! And now Irukukuu has talked in front of someone! Big sister will be so mad! Kyuuuuui! Kyui kyui! Wahhhhhh!"

"There there," I comforted the dragon. The two of us had departed towards a more secluded part of the courtyard. So far, from what I gathered, Sylphid's real name was Irukukuu, she was a rhyme dragon which was some kind of magically gifted and more intelligent variety of dragon that was thought to be extinct, that Tabitha in order to protect Irukukuu had ordered her never to speak in front of anyone, and that Irukukuu was apparently very young by the standards of her race. "I promise, I won't tell anyone else. It can just be our secret. You don't even have to tell Tabitha about it."

Irukukuu peaked out from behind her paws, which she had been rubbing against her eyes as she had wept remorsefully. "Really? You promise?"

"Super secret promise," I assured her, speaking as though I would to a small child. Despite the dragon's size, that was precisely what she was after all.

Irukukuu's eyes widened at that. "A super secret promise?" she breathed, sounding impressed at just how willing I was to help her keep her secret.

"A super secret, ultra promise," I elaborated, nodding solemnly.

"Kyui!" she proclaimed, her eyes widening and spreading her wings. "You're the best, big brother!" she then proceeded to hug me thoroughly.

"It's no problem," I gasped out. I hadn't had time that time to properly reinforce, and I soon discovered that Irukukuu's zeal for hugs could match and even surpass Louise's zeal for discipline. "Now why don't you let me give you that food I brought?" I desperately tried to avert her attention away from crushing me.

"Really?" she said, dropping me unexpectedly, clutching her paws beneath her head as her tail twitched with ecstacy. "You're not going to give it to Flame, or any of the others?"

I almost felt bad about this deception. Using the food to maneuver her to break her promise, even if I didn't know about the promise at the time, felt kind of like stealing candy from a baby.

"Yes," I assure her, promising in my head to assuage my guilty conscious later by getting the chef to loan me a few nice big juicy fish for the dragon as an apology. "In fact, I'll even promise not to give any of the others food unless I gave you some first."

"Yay!" Irukukuu, or I guess I should still call her Sylphid if I'm going to disguise the fact that I figured out her secret, sounded so much like a young girl that it was almost a crime that she wasn't human. If she had been a girl back in Japan such a cheerful and bright child would have been the star of the neighborhood, surrounded by friends. It seemed a shame that she had to conceal her personality in order to protect herself. I promised to try and speak with her more often, if only so that she wouldn't get lonely. Sylphid continued, her paws once more clasped under her chin, and little stars appearing in her big black eyes. "Kyui! You're the best, big brother."

Still, there was such a thing as too adorable. "Sylphid," I spoke up, a little unnerved by just how many of her mannerisms were identical to humans. "Can you make me a promise first?"

"Sure, big brother!" she chirped, once more trilling, the soft 'kyui's' ringing melodically through the air.

"Can you promise me that you'll never wake me up and tell me I'm late for school?" It would just be too much moe. I'm not sure my brain would be able to take it.

"Sure, big brother!" Sylphid nodded enthusiastically. "I promise I'll never wake you up and say, 'Big brother! You're going to be late for school! If you don't hurry, you won't have time for breakfast!'" Sylphid nodded her head furiously, her neck rippling behind her again like a cerulean wave. Then she paused and cocked her head at me. "Umm. Big brother, are you okay? Kyui! You look kinda funny all of a sudden…"

By Heaven's Feel. She even got the part about breakfast. She was a born natural for the little sister role… The sheer adorableness of it had actually struck my brain like a physical assault. I hadn't been this numb since the time I accidentally over worked my magic circuits and spent a few days stroked out and incapable of feeling anything in my left side. It was only through the fact that I wasn't a 'little sister-con' that I had managed to preserve myself in front of that assault.

"Thank you, Sylphid," I managed to get out weakly, unable to point out that she had just broken her promise while she was making it. I was exceedingly thankful that the dragon wasn't able to take human form. Since she's so young by dragon standards, she'd probably come out looking like a little ten year old girl. I don't think there was a force in this world that could resist that line if it was delivered by an appropriate child. "It makes me very glad for you to have promised that."

*Scene Break*

"Why are you here, anyway?" Louise ground out, glaring at the tall buxom girl beside her.

"This looks way more interesting then study hall," Kirche smirked back. On the other side of Louise, Tabitha stood, looking strangely out of place without a book in her hand. From behind my Master, I regarded the rest of the room absently. I had made a near complete recovery from Sylphid's weapon grade cuteness, but there are some things you just don't get over immediately.

The four of us stood standing at attention in the office of the headmaster, whom looked like he had been taking fashion tips from Gandalf: long unkempt beard and hair, gray flowing robes, and a staff. His very presence spoke of austere power, and wise grace. Well, it spoke of it for as long as it took me to notice the mouse dart out from under his robe and start shamelessly taking advantage that the distraction of our presence provided to start peeking up the skirt of the attractive secretary standing at attention beside him.

"After extensive investigation," the wizard spoke, "Ms. Longueville has managed to acquire information on the thief, Fouquet," he began, taking charge of the meeting. Arrayed around the room were a number of wizards and witches, the instructors of the academy. The males wore green cloaks over blue robes, while the women wore purple cloaks over blue robes, as well as matching pointy hats.

I thought the uniforms looked ridiculous and impractical, but then again, I've noticed most school uniforms were ridiculous and impractical.

The old man had been continuing while I observed the surroundings, but it looked like it was more out of an effort to buy the mouse, his familiar I assumed, time to make a proper lap of the gathered females, peeking carefully under each robe and apparently making gestures that indicated something to the old man. Even as he carefully noted each gesture the mouse made, the headmaster unfurled a scroll.

"Young Tabitha, young Ms. Valliere," he proclaimed solemnly. "Was this the thief you witnessed yesterday?"

My eyes narrowed and I couldn't stop my lips from curling slightly when I saw the profile on the roll of parchment. Louise answered. "Yes, this is Fouquet. There is no mistake." It didn't bother me that I had been left out of the list of those being asked. In their eyes I was just a familiar, and thus below their notice. The only one who wasn't dismissing me out of hand was the old man himself, and the secretary, a Ms. Longueville I assumed. The old man had sharp eyes, taking note of everything in the room even as his familiar continued to make a lap. The secretary appeared to be regarding me out of simple curiosity.

As the old man continued talking, condemning the actions of the thief while declaring the responsibility of the academy to recover the stolen item, some strange relic called 'the Staff of Destruction', I kept one eye on the mouse. It had made nearly a complete lap of the room, and was even now finishing staring up Kirche's skirt. When it started to move on to its last two targets, I made my move.

Gently, so as not to hurt it, just too pin it, I shifted my foot so that it came down on the mouse's tail just as it was about to reach viewing distance of Louise's undergarments. It almost squeaked in surprise but managed to stop itself before giving away its position. Displaying a remarkable ability to multi-task, even as the old man called for volunteers to hunt down the thief, his eyes darted to mine and widened barely.

Noticing her boss' actions, the Longueville followed his eyes and glanced down. When she noticed the captured mouse, her eyes narrowed and her lips pursed in displeasure.

Under the frightened eyes of the mouse, I glanced once at Louise, once at Tabitha, and then shook my head barely. I would protect my Master's dignity as was appropriate, and Tabitha's because it was polite considering what I had done to her familiar earlier, even if she didn't know it, but I was under no other obligation to protect anyone else's. When I released its tail, the familiar seemed to get the message and darted away, pausing once or twice more under what was apparently the more memorable garments on its way back to its master.

The old man smiled almost imperceptibly at that, the look Longueville gave me seemed vaguely aggrieved. I've no doubt that she had had…encounters…with that mouse in the past. I gave a small unrepentant shrug. Not my problem.

"What's wrong?" the old man proclaimed, looking a little disapointed. His skills at multi-tasking were indeed great. He had managed to complete his speech and ask for volunteers without once giving away the little drama that had unfolded right underneath the noses of the rest without anyone realizing it except for his secretary. "Is there no noble here willing to gain fame through the capture of the thief who has stolen this castle's treasure and devastated the nearby countryside?"

Hmm? I knew about the theft, but the countryside too?

The bald man standing opposite the secretary on the other side of headmaster coughed. "It hasn't been proven that Fouquet was really responsible for the destruction. Why would a thief destroy a hill?"

Destroy a hill? What the…

Ah. Oops.

I broke into a small sudden coughing fit at that news. Most of the room ignored the noise as the ill-mannered background noise of a familiar, but Louise's eyes darted back to me, looking upset at my interruption. Well, partially upset. She also looked like she was coming to a decision. When her eyes met mine, she seemed to resolve herself and turned back to the headmaster who was looking put out by the lack of volunteers.

Without another word, Louise raised her wand and volunteered our services. "My Servant and I will go!" I let myself smile at that both at the volunteer and my inclusion in the declaration. Looks like we were going to take another shot at Fouquet.

"I as well!" Kirche chimed in. Louise glared at the taller redhead, apparently unhappy at having someone else trying to steal her thunder. I didn't blame her. I didn't much relish the thought of having someone else along to witness my skills either. Kirche smirked at the smaller girl, and then noticed something behind Louise that seemed to startle her. "Tabitha?" she asked, sounding surprised. The blue haired girl had lifted a wand as well. I was surprised she even had a wand. She usually seemed to use her staff for spell casting. "You don't have to go," Kirche offered, not sounding insulting like she usually did when she spoke to Louise. I'm still not sure what the deal between those two were but the busty redhead and the petite bluette seemed to have a very strong bond nonetheless.

"I worry for you three," the blue haired girl said softly. I was actually sort of touched that I was included in the list.

The headmaster gave a small proud smile. "Then let us count on you three," and just like that I was out of the count again. "Miss Tabitha, who despite her youth already bears the title of Chevalier." The title seemed to shock Louise and Kirche, though I had no idea what a chevalier was supposed to be. "Furthermore, Miss Zerbst, who is of a Germanian family well noted for their skills and powers, a wielder of powerful flame magic in her own right." Kirche puffed up her chest at that. And when Kirche puffs out her chest, that's a lot of chest that's getting puffed.

The old man turned towards my Master and I, and Louise closed her eyes, standing proudly. "And finally, Miss Valliere," he started to trail off a bit, pausing in between words as he chose them carefully. "Who is the daughter of the Valliere family, also well known for having produced several outstanding mages," left unsaid was that Louise wasn't considered one of them, "and, well, how shall I put this…" he trailed off, desperately searching for a compliment that would be appropriate. Louise wilted. As the old man's eyes darted about the room, looking for inspiration, they came to rest on me. "Ah! That's right. Her familiar is a remarkable swordsman that overwhelmed even General Gramont's son, Guiche Gramont." As though that was really anything worth noting.

"That's right," the balding instructor proclaimed, sounding like an excited kid. "That's right! He's the legendary gan…" he got out before seeming to realize he was about to say something he shouldn't and cutting himself off. I eyed him carefully. He noticed my gaze and turned his head, embarrassed about something.

I narrowed my eyes. He knew something.

"Please allow me to guide the students to the appropriate location," Ms. Longueville declared, suddenly stomping her foot. The onlookers seemed to believe that it was meant to emphasize his proclamation. I realized that she had been aiming for the mouse who was trying to sneak another peak up her skirt.

Still, business first. I leaned toward my Master's ear whispering my question there. I'd ask myself, but I had the feeling Louise was still feeling prickly about the trouble the headmaster had had in coming up with a suitable compliment, so I figured I'd handle this in a way which would let her save some face. If appearing deferential would help protect her pride, then it was no skin of my nose.

Louise turned her head, catching my movement and looking curious as to why I would interrupt the solemn moment. When I whispered my request, her eyes widened, but then her eyes briefly closed as she understood the reason behind my question.

"Headmaster," she spoke up suddenly, drawing attention back to the two of us. We must have made something of a sight, my own taller frame directly behind her shorter one, her face solemn, and mine purposefully kept blank of all expression. "My Servant wishes to know if there are any preferences in the thief's condition when they are apprehended."

The question was worded formally, but it seemed to confuse the gathered faculty. "Preferences?" the headmaster repeated, his brow furrowed as he tried to divine just what I had meant when I passed on my inquiry to my Master.

"To clarify, so long as the Staff of Destruction is recovered, it does not matter if the thief is dead or maimed, right?" Louise said bluntly.

That raised a clamor from the gathered faculty. Even Kirche let out a "Huh?" eying me in surprise. The only ones not shocked by my ruthlessness were Louise and Tabitha. That was probably because they were the only two who realized I actually had the skills necessary to carry off either feat, and the willingness to do both.

In response to their disbelief, I graced them all with a cold little smile. It didn't seem to comfort them.

*Scene Break*

"It was a completely justified question," I defended with a dignified air.

"It was blood thirsty and crude," Louise huffed, her arms folded as she sat beside me. We were in a wagon, and sitting across from us were Kirche and Tabitha. At the reins Longueville clucked gently as she urged the horses drawing our little rundown carriage forward. Above us Sylphid flew, accompanying her own master in the air. We hadn't been able to find a spot for Flame, and considering the effect that fire was likely to have on rock we decided to let the salamander stay at home and rest.

"But still justified," I asserted. "Depending on how this goes we might end up in combat. It's better to know at the beginning just what is considered acceptable damage so that we can adjust our tactics accordingly."

"I know, I know," Louise finally relented. She leaned back, looking up at the sky with a troubled expression. "I just wish you could have found a more discreet way of bringing it up."

"I prefer direct," I admit. I scratched the back of my head sheepishly. "I'm good at direct."

"Mmmm," Kirche finally broke in. "I can think of a few ways you could use that talent at directness, Darling," she coaxed me, leaning forward so that her cleavage nearly burst out of her shirt. She sent me one of the flirtatious looks that seemed to wrap every other boy in the academy around her fingers, expecting it to have the same effect on me.

"I thank you for your offer, Miss Zerbst," I responded politely, "but am afraid that I must decline at this time."

"Mou," she sighed, leaning back and fanning her flushed cheeks. "I've never had someone play so coy with me. I didn't realize it would make me this hot," she breathed, sounding sultry. She played lightly with the hem of her skirt, teasing it up and down her thigh. I noticed. It would be hard not to. But with great effort I managed to drag my gaze upwards and away from temptation.

"You know," Louise pointed out stiffly, "You didn't have to come. My Servant and I would have been enough for this." She really was annoyed that what was supposed to be her triumphant display of prowess had been effectively high jacked by the other redhead.

I leaned in to whisper in her ear. "You know, sometimes accidents happen on a battlefield. If you really want me to, I could arrange…"

She cut me off in a whisper of her own. "There will be no killing of my classmates." Her tone when giving me that order was resigned. Apparently she remembered my offer to aid in revolt and had decided to accept these offers as simply ways that I attempted to show my service to her.

My answer back surprised her. "Then shall I consider these three as allies, or simply a third party?"

My question caused her to cock her head to the side. Kirche had been trying to lean forward discreetly, attempting to invade the privacy of our speech. "Is there a difference?" Louise asked, her voice a little louder then she intended.

Tabitha interrupted, not looking up from the book she was reading. "Allies? Third party?" her quiet voice indicated that she had heard every word the two of us said. I think she might have been using a wind spell for that. Tricky girl. She definitely had talent.

"Third parties are people I don't have to worry about getting caught in my attacks," I respond bluntly, not bothering to try and conceal the conversation anymore. "Allies are those I would actively protect."

"You actually make a distinction between the two?" Kirche asked, seeming eager to get any insight into my personality. It would make her planned seductions more effective I assume.

"Yes," I responded plainly. "I have a number of ways to categorize people. So far I have the entire school in the 'potential enemy' list. I admit, it would make things a bit easier if I could move a few out of that list."

Even Longueville turned back to stare at me at that statement.

"And what is the 'potential enemy' list?" Louise asked, her voice dry.

"The list of people I wouldn't hesitate to kill if they made a threatening move," I explain.

The silence in the cart reigned, and I began to worry that Longueville might run us off the road if she didn't turn an eye to it soon.

"And why," Louise finally said, sounding strained, "is the entire school in this 'potential enemy' list of yours?" She sounded like she was trying very hard to understand my reasoning, but was falling short, and starting to hit that borderline of hers when her hand starts unconsciously itching towards anything she can use to bash the person who had irritated her.

"My home land is very different from this one," I defended myself. "How am I supposed to know all the customs of a completely foreign country over night?" I waved at Kirche. "You've said yourself that your two families have been feuding for centuries. I had no idea if you were suddenly going to decide to end that feud by having me kill her in her sleep, or if you had any other students that you'd want me to do the same too."

"That makes sense," Kirche nodded thoughtfully at my explanation, as though I hadn't just admitted to having been perfectly willing to murder her in her repose. Tabitha simply nodded once, the only sign that she was sparing any attention from her book to the conversation.

Louise tried to mount a convincing counter argument, and raised one finger in the air as she prepared to deliver it, paused, and finally deflated. "Please feel free to move everyone in the school to your 'third party' list," she sighed, simply excepting my quirk without further question. "And everyone here is to be put in your ally list as well."

"That will make things less complicated," I admit. A bit harder too, though. Now I had to actively try and defend the strange duo and the accompanying secretary. The secretary who finally realized that she should be paying attention to the road in time to jerk the horses back onto the beaten down trail we were following before they could hit the gully they were about to walk into.

Longueville interrupted from the front again. "So do you have other lists?" she seemed curious by my insistence on mentally dividing up the people around me into various levels of hostility. "Fouquet for instance, which list are they on? Something like 'definite enemy', kill on sight?"

"Yes, Fouquet was on that list earlier," I admitted. "Now she's on the 'the one that got away' list."

"'The one that got away?'" It was Longuevilles turn to cock her head to the side, little question marks appearing above her head. "What does that mean?"

"I hate the ones that get away," I explained casually. "It's my policy to kill the enemy on the first encounter. If they get away, it means they then have some experience fighting me, and it's always harder to kill the enemy once they have some experience. In order to counter that, I generally have to up the viciousness of my attacks. I generally prefer to aim for maiming shots first instead of instant kills like I use on 'definitie enemies'. It's easier to limit their mobility or offense abilities by disarming or dislegging them before I decapitate them." My use of the word 'dislegging' seemed to unnerve Longueville. I stand by my belief that it was a perfectly viable word. After all, it's an appropriate counterpart to disarming, and when I disarm someone I generally don't mean their weapons.

"I'm glad to hear that," Louise told me flatly, rubbing her head as though she had a headache.

"But the change in status does raise some other questions," I tell her, showing no mercy for the brain pain I had most likely been responsible for. "Since I now have to worry about not accidentally killing anyone else, it might be a good time for a strategy session." Oh how I both equally loved and hated those words: strategy session. Some of my fondest memories came from strategy sessions. And some of my worst. The best came from the company I kept while making them, and the worst from the fact that we usually only had to have them when we were hopelessly out gunned and in a desperate situation.

"Oh Darling!" Kirche proclaimed, completely ignoring my attempt to iron out a plan. Instead, she threw herself across the seat so that she could embrace me firmly, planting my face into her breasts without a hint of remorse. "Now that you no longer have to worry about killing me, we can finally be together!"

"Mmph, mmph mph mph," I pointed out. I didn't even bother to try and make actual words. It's not like anyone would have been able to understand them with my face stuck firmly in the valley between those two mountains. Though the pointed gesture I made seemed to get my point across.

"On second thought," Louise ground out, that little stunt pushing her past the 'hand unconsciously itching' phase and straight into the 'wand grasped firmly in shaking fist' phase, "feel free to keep Kirche in the 'potential enemy' list."

"Oh pooh," Kirche proclaimed, not releasing me at all or showing even the faintest hint of an inclination to do so. "Don't stand between our love, little girl." She angled enough that I was once more able to see things that weren't jiggling so she could smirk down at the little pink haired girl.

"A wagon heading off to apprehend a thief with no regard to what they destroy is no place for love," Louise ground out, her hand twitching as she restrained herself from pointing the wand in her grip from the red head who had wrapped herself around me like an octopus. "Especially not when the Master of one of those supposed 'lovers' is present, and even more so when that 'lover' already has a real lover waiting for him!"

"Thank you, Master," I said, honestly touched that one of the reasons she was getting so angry about this situation was because she knew my feelings on the subject.

The day after Kirche had first made a move on me with her lizard partner, Louise had asked me if what I had said about having a lover was true, or just an excuse to get the amorous fire user off my back. When I had confirmed that I really did have someone I was waiting for, she had dedicated herself completely in helping me fend off Kirche.

I think a part of that might have had to do with the fact that the whole Valliere/Zerbst feud originating over a Zerbst stealing a Valliere fiancé some centuries ago.

"No regards for what they destroy?" Longueville spoke up suddenly. Three heads turned to regard the one driving the carriage. One more stayed buried in a book. "What makes you say that this Fouquet has no regards for what they destroy?" She sounded curious, and a little worried.

"Didn't the headmaster say something about a hill?" Kirche spoke up, sounding confused about why it should matter. We were going to catch a villain. The exact extent of their villainy was irrelevant; all that mattered was that we were going to catch them in her mind.

I suddenly had trouble covering up another coughing fit. No one seemed to notice.

"But why would a thief go out of their way to destroy a hill?" Longueville argued, sounding tense. She appeared worried about the potential violence that we were all about to immerse ourselves in.

"Well," I said, trying to move the conversation along, "There's no way to know the mind of a thief like that. The best thing to do is to just prepare ourselves as best we can and hope for the best…"

Tabitha interrupted me. "Your attack," she said softly, turning a page. Kirche and Louise turned to the bluette, and Longueville perked her ear up, half turning her head so she could hear the conversation more clearly while still keeping an eye on the road. Her last close call seemed to have corrected her potential driving handicap.

"Who's attack?" Kirche asked, puzzled by her comrades behavior. Louise seemed to understand what Tabitha had been pointing out, and turned to look at me directly.

"What about Shirou's attack?" she asked. She seemed to recall my coughing fit from earlier, as well as the one from the headmaster's office, and her eyes narrowed as she began to form a suspicion.

"Well," I hedged slightly. "It's entirely possible that the hill might have been my fault," I finally acknowledged.

Kirche's eyes widened. "And how could a destroyed hill have been your fault? You're just a swordsman," she declared, already brushing off my reluctant confession.

Tabitha and Louise, on the other hand didn't.

"Shirou," Louise said slowly. "Is there something you'd like to tell me?"

"No?" I tried, not really expecting it to work. Louise's eyes narrowed, and I finally caved. "Well, the attack I used on Fouquet was particularly potent," I admitted, and Louise's eyes stopped narrowing and took a speculative look instead. She was no doubt recalling what I had explained last night. "When I launched it, the golem had its hand up. It wasn't enough to stop my attack, but it was enough to deflect it."

"Missed," Tabitha interjected. Louise seemed to perk at that word, remembering my own haranguing from last night about her aim. She turned a sly smile at me. Kirche just seemed lost on the subject of how I could possibly have an attack that was so devastating when I was just a commoner.

"Blocked," I corrected with great dignity. "Anyway, it blocked high, so the attack went over its head and past the castle walls. And," I paused sheepishly, "just because it missed the target didn't mean it didn't hit anything else."

"Your attack destroyed a hill by accident?" Longueville asked plainly. She seemed a little unnerved by that. "How?"

I turned a gaze at Louise. She seemed to be silently gloating at my predicament. I ignored it. I also ignored the question. Answering it would reveal more about my capabilities then I was comfortable giving away, especially to those who had no obligation to help me conceal it, or any real idea just how important to me it was to keep it concealed.

"Go on, Servant," Louise ordered. She on the other hand didn't want me to conceal it. She'd lived her whole life with the shroud of failure hanging over her head. Now that she had a chance to prove that her talent was there, just waiting to be discovered, she was eager to show it off. Especially in front of a girl who went out of the way to harass her at every possible opportunity.

I narrowed my eyes. It was an order I wanted to refuse. But it wasn't an unreasonable order either. Before, they had been potential enemies. Now that my Master had allied herself with them, even if she didn't realize just how much regard I held for allies, explaining my skills to them was not outside the scope of acceptable actions.

I might not be willing to display my skills to complete strangers for a prize, but for allies who would soon fight beside me on the battlefield? That was another matter completely.

With a sigh, I obeyed my Master's orders. "Though the culture of my homeland is different in that magical talent is not equated with the social hierarchy, I myself am capable of magic." With a firm tone I admitted. "I am a magi."

*Scene Break*

"No traps," Tabitha reported as she waved her wand.

"No magical traps," I retorted calmly. Tabitha nodded her response to my correction and stepped back. This was the method we had chosen to use as we investigated the suspicious shack from the reports. After the revelation of my abilities, the resulting strategy session had progressed smoothly enough.

It pretty much boiled down to the fact that the only ones there with experience with actual conflict were Tabitha and I. My own past as a swordsman and a participant in some truly unsettling conflicts combined with the fact that Tabitha had been a Chevalier for years now and had almost as much battle experience as I led the two of us being paired together for the initial reconnaissance. I had discovered in the following conversation that the title Chevalier was a means of denoting a level of accomplishment and ability in person, noble or not. It was a title that meant the holder had completed some task of great skill and ability in the past. 'Chevalier' was a title of skill that couldn't be bought, only earned.

That raised my estimation of the blue haired girl significantly. I knew she was a tough cookie from before, but that kind of distinction was a whole other matter. It made me a little relieved that she had been moved to allied status.

So the end result of the rather abrupt planning was that I went in first, checking the place by all means I had in my possession. The rest of the group had decided that my experience with both magic and mundane methods of combat made me a good general judge of the area. After I initial cleared the site, Tabitha would move forward, checking for more subtle magic means of protection. Regardless of my own experience, I just didn't have the skill to properly clear the site completely.

When Kirche had discovered that despite the fact that I could use magic that I had no talent in it, she had burst out laughing. "The Zero familiar of the Zero Louise," had been her exact taunt.

When I explained to her that I was merely overly specialized, she had laughed harder. That stopped when I put a sword to her throat. Strictly for the purpose of displaying what my specialty was.

The fact that I never bothered to draw Derflinger in the process of putting the sword against her impressed upon her just what my specialty was. Kanshou really did seem to be finding a lot of necks lately.

I also took the opportunity to point out the end result of every attempt Louise had ever made to cast a spell. Once the pattern of 'explosion' was discovered, Kirche had decided that having Louise in a safe distance from the battle and chanting constantly was a decent plan. The end result of our impromptu strategy session was that Kirche and my Master were both safely positioned upon Tabitha's familiar and several hundred feet in the air. There they would be able to keep an eye on the conflict, supply covering fire as needed, and in the case of a catastrophic failure go for help and report on the situation.

That left just me and Tabitha on ground. That suited me fine. Now that I could officially work together with the blue haired girl, I was finding the experience to truly be a treasure. She was quiet, quick, not given to complaining, and very efficient. I found myself adapting to her presence on the operation easily, and trusting in her judgment without reservation.

It was always a pleasure to work with a professional.

After Tabitha had cleared the door of the apparently abandoned shack for magic protection, I kicked it open fiercely, and darted in, low to the ground to avoid any potential mundane traps. Since most booby traps tended to target the head and torso, I was hoping to avoid them from below if they existed. The other types of traps target the lower legs to restrict mobility, so I had reinforced my ankle and calves in order to counter that measure. It turned out to be a pointless maneuver. Nothing waited for me in there besides a whole lot of dust.

A low whistle was the all clear sign, and Tabitha joined me in the room. Wordlessly we split up each of us taking a side and beginning our search. The blue haired girl seemed to be enjoying my own professionalism as well, and moved with a quick efficiency that she generally didn't use when at school.

It only took us a minute to find the box containing the Staff of Destruction.

This was too easy. I could only think of two reasons why a thief would abandon something that they had worked so hard to acquire. The first was that I had injured them more than I thought on our first encounter and they had ditched the goods so they could move faster to a safe location and heal up.

The second was…

A loud roar from outside was Sylphid's signal that hostiles had approached while we had our senses limited from being enclosed in the building. The view out the front door had been covered by rock. I could hazard a guess just what the rocks were.

Yup. It's a trap all right.

Tabitha's eyes met mine, an unasked question on what to do. Mine darted from hers to a window, and she nodded once. I went first, throwing myself through the glass pane, my body reinforced to keep the shards from cutting any deeper then my clothes, and Tabitha came afterwards, moving quicker than I thought she could as she exited through the now cleared portal.

Sure enough we got out of there just in time as the eight ton fist of the hundred foot tall golem came crashing down on the building we had just been in, ruthlessly destroying everything inside.

"Move," I ordered flatly, and Tabitha nodded even as she was already fleeing. When our small group had finally gotten around to strategizing, the ones we had come up with were pretty simple. It mostly consisted of having me, the one with a sword that had already proven myself perfectly capable of surviving in a face to face battle with the behemoth stay on the ground and concentrate on doing just that: surviving. The three girls, who were by nature quite a bit more delicate than me would then retreat to a safe distance on the dragon and concentrate on doing what spell casters should do: rain down unholy destruction upon their foes. Longueville had volunteered to do the long range scouting, and was out of sight right now, circling the area and searching for the thief.

It was a direct strategy. I like direct.

I moved to place myself between the golem and the small girl, but it turned out that I didn't need to. The golem didn't even bother trying to chase the retreating mage. Apparently the caster responsible remembered my sincere attempt to kill them earlier and also apparently held a grudge for that teensy little fact.

The end result was that the golem was on me like Guiche on girls.

"Well then, Derflinger," I said, my hand closing on the hilt slung over my shoulder. "This time, for real."

"Aye, partner," the sword spoke up, the first time since we started out on this expedition that it had done so. "Let's see what we can do!"

The magical talking blade made good on its promise. When the golem threw its first blow at me, I attempted to duplicate my earlier feet. I darted past it, prepping myself for a quick pass at its wrist. The golem was simply too massive for me to target directly, and beside that it had no real internal organs or weak points for me to aim at. The most I could do was cut it down piece by piece. Unfortunately the caster directing the animate statue remembered this trick. Even as I darted past the wrist and adjusted my aim, a massive rock foot came closing at me.

This was why I hated the ones that got away.

Faced with several more tons of rubble coming at me, I abandoned my attempt at the creature's hand, and instead targeted the new limb that was attacking me. Simply upping my speed, I spurred past the kicking leg, sinking my blade into the new limb and cutting fast and hard. The foot was much thicker then the arm was, and I didn't have nearly as high a percent of it cut as I did with the wrist by the end of the strike. It would take at least two passes to cut away at it enough for me to get it off the body. When the giant completed its attack, it came down on the limb, and I discarded the idea of hacking the limb away. Even if I reduced its connection to a flap, the sheer weight of the beast resting on the limb was too much for me to sway. Already the wound I had inflicted was regenerating, the gaps between the stones filling with dirt and mending.

Another roar penetrated the air. Tabitha had regained Sylphid, and that was the signal that the three of them were preparing an attack. I'd been explained that the longer the incantation the more powerful the spell. Since it had been established that the best of the three when it came to shear percussive damage was my Master, she had been elected to cast. Seeing as how the exact spell she cast was irrelevant, she had chosen the most powerful attack spell she knew, the 'fireball' she had attempted to cast last time.

That meant my role in this conflict was to keep the golem busy till I received the next signal.

It was both a challenging and easy task. It was easy because the golem seemed very dedicated to squashing me like a bug. It didn't even bother to try and close in on the three girls, nor look for anyway to attack them in the sky. It was challenging, because like I mentioned the golem seemed VERY dedicated to squashing me like a bug.

It appears the caster responsible definitely was holding a grudge over my attempt to drill a hole through them.

It became a desperate game of keep away between me and the golem. It would flail at me relentlessly, using all four of its limbs and its massive body to try and smash me in any way it could. It was clumsy, but it managed to keep itself moving enough that I was forced back on the defensive.

Deciding that this could end up being a prolonged battle, I limited myself on my reinforcement. Trusting in the strange speed and strength that filled me while the runes glowed on my hand, I turned all my effort on staying out of reach of its massive bludgeons.

As the sweat began to pour down my face, I finally heard it: Sylphid's roar once more echoed. They were ready.

Using the squirreled away strength I had preserved for the occasion, I reinforced my legs as best I could, boosted my speed to the level that made it nearly impossible for me to be caught by the slow thing, I turned around and ran like hell.

Ice bloomed on the golem's legs, locking them briefly and arresting its movements. Simultaneously, flame splashed along the creatures head, covering the location on its deformed top that looked like eye sockets. I glanced up and in front and saw Sylphid hovering, for once looking as fierce and as dangerous as a dragon should. Tabitha had gestured with her large staff, and Kirche was laying flat beside her aiming her wand. These attacks were meant to limit the mobility and potentially blind the target.

Louise, standing as tall as her slight frame could reach, with her eyes clenched shut, held her wand in front of her chanting while the wind of her flight throwing her long pink hair billowing around her like a fiery halo. Her eyes finally snapped open and I could see her mouth move, even if I couldn't hear it over the distance. "Fireball!" she proclaimed.

Last time she had cast this spell, I had asked her where she had been aiming. When she admitted that she had been trying to target the golems head, I told her to start aiming at center mass until we could properly hone her targeting ability. She did so this time.

She still missed her target, but when one of the golem's massive arms spontaneously erupted in a flameless explosion, severing it at the shoulder, I decided that I could work with that.

Still, that meant that the destruction of the creature was now entirely on me. When I had been getting my briefing on the limits of her spell craft Louise had also confided that mages of this world were also limited in the number of times they could cast higher level magic. It depended strongly on the willpower and experience of the caster on how much they could cast. Seeing as my Master was still young and inexperienced, I had put the limit on one major spell for battle. I didn't want to risk burning her out any more than that. Because of that I had insisted that the three would only get one chance at this. If it failed, the three were to retreat as fast as they could, reporting on the conflict and drawing necessary reinforcements.

Seeing as we had already recovered the stolen item, this was an even more appropriate strategy.

However, this left me alone to face the construct and either buy enough time for them to be safely away before fleeing myself, or destroy it completely on my own.

As the dragon began to arch away, I shifted Derflinger to my left hand, and held out my right. I had already chosen an appropriate sword for fighting something like this.

"I am the bone of my sword," I chanted.

Trace on.

A massive great sword formed in my hand. Nearly twice the size of long sword it was etched quite extensively with a dark waving pattern. It was Hrunting, the sword which fails against that which is protected. Wielded by Beowulf against the mother of Grendel, it was a sword which would never fail to cut what it was swung at be it stone or flesh so long as it was unprotected by magic. Even the weakest of protection spells would cause the blade to fail.

The thing in front of me wasn't protected by magic. It was merely created by it.

"Hey, partner," Derflinger called out as I sheathed it. "Fighting with another sword already? We were doing so well together!"

"I know," I assure the blade. "I just need something with a longer reach for this."

"Ha! Well, you know you're steel," the talking sword allowed, and fell silent in its sheath. I could feel its readiness though. If Hrunting failed, then it knew I would draw it once more. It was content to wait with the patience of the steel from which it was formed.

Once more, I closed with the behemoth. Now one armed, it was having trouble keeping itself upright. The sheer loss of weight on one side was enough to throw its balance completely out the window. This was double edged for me. On one hand, its ability to coordinate attacks was greatly reduced. The loss of a limb completely reduced the vectors of attack by a quarter, and the loss of weight meant that large swinging blows would send it off balance, opening it further. On the other hand, now the thing would stumble, an action which I couldn't predict from experience. At any moment it could trip, completely change its angle of attack and strike me on accident.

Staying out of reach as best I could, I began chipping away at the fist that was swung at me. It would be too dangerous to get in close and attempt a single removing strike on the last fist. Instead, I focused my efforts on shaving away at it. With the superior edge of Hrunting I was able to meet each strike at me with a strike of my own, twisting out of way and carving pieces of knuckle and finger off it with each attack. Sweat dripped freely down my face now, the only sign that I was exerting myself.

The lightness of the magic of the runes was truly effective. If I had been relying on my own circuits I would have had to call something more destructive than Hrunting, seeking to end the mismatch between the two of us with simple overwhelming power rather than taking the opportunity to conserve my power and draw the fight out.

Naturally, at the point where I had begun to get semi-optimistic about the surety of this fight, the dumb thing went and did exactly what I was worried about: it tripped.

It swung desperately across its body, and I had finally managed to carve one of its fingers off completely, when it its whole body began to pitch forward. Without the weight of its other arm behind it, it had moved beyond its center of gravity. Due to the position of its swing, I almost didn't see its tumble until it was too late. If I darted backwards there was no way of knowing how far it would roll, so I would have no choice but to separate from it, and I didn't want to do that. I was worried if I gave it too long, it might begin to regenerate the loss of pieces that I had been building up on it. Still, with no other choice, I once more sprang backwards repeatedly, putting several hundred feet between me and it as quick as I could, once more using reinforcement to force my already unnaturally quick body backwards even faster. I was glad I did. The giant thing rolled for nearly seventy five feet itself before it lost its momentum, flailing the entire time.

By now the girls were probably far enough away. It might be wiser to simply withdraw myself. With my Master safe and the stolen good recover, the only other reason to stay here was to find Fouquet and kill the thief. If they had any brains at all, they would have already recognized that their prize was lost and high tailed it out of there themselves, leaving the golem to run its course and delay pursuit. I was loathed to admit it, but it looked like this one would be the one that kept getting away…

My thoughts were interrupted by a voice I really didn't want to hear.

"Shirou!" Louise called. What the hell was she doing here! Hadn't we gone over the whole 'don't get on the battlefield' aspect the last time I had to protect her from a giant weapon of mass destruction! I whirled on my Master, the heat of battle making my anger sharp and prepared to let her know just how troubling I found this developing trend to be when I froze.

Holy Throne of Heroes. My Master stood below the circling form of Sylphid who was perhaps a hundred feet above the two of us. She had at least made sure to land far enough away from battle that she would have time to escape if the golem tried to close. But what caught my eye was that she had apparently opened the ornate box that housed the Staff of Destruction, and was now waving the item in the air, offering it to me. She had probably assumed that with my own experience with weapons, I would be able to identify and use the powerful magic item. Only it wasn't a magic item.

It was a Root be damned rocket launcher!

How the hell did a rocket launcher manage to make it all the way out to this technologically backwater middle of nowhere!

A question that could wait for another time. I met her eyes. She held the launcher out before her, wordlessly asking if it would be of use of me. I didn't know. I've rarely used anything besides my blades in combat, the myriad number I possessed offering more than enough versitility. I never learned how to use some of the more modern weaponry of my home world.

Still...I glanced at the runes on my hand and decided to take a chance. I had begun to formulate a hypothesis on just what those runes meant. If this didn't pan out, there was always the retreat option. With Fouquet probably long gone, there really wasn't any reason for us to hang around anymore.

Dismissing Hrunting from existence, I placed a hand on Derflinger's hilt, ensuring that the runes continued to glow, and darted back to Louise. She passed the launcher in front of her to me, and the moment my hands touched it my hypothesis was confirmed.

I could use this.

"Get to the side of me," I ordered my Master, removing the arming handle, and extending the inner tube. "There will be a back blast behind me, so make sure to avoid it."

"Right," she agreed instantly. She was tense. She was obviously scared, but had chosen to reenter combat in order to assist her Servant the only way that was still left to her. There would be words about this later, but my absolute surety that this was karma had me deciding that they wouldn't be nearly as harsh as they were last time.

Turning, I sighted at the damaged construct. It had regained its feet and was already resuming its lumbering pursuit. Sucks to be you, I thought at it, and pushed the firing mechanism.

The explosion that tore the annoying construct apart was immensely satisfying.

*Scene Break*

"So are you going to yell at me again?" Louise asked, sounding worried.

I sighed. "No, not this time," I admit. Sylphid stood nearby trilling happily, with Tabitha and Kirche as well.

Well, Tabitha stood nearby. Now that we no longer had to worry about potential death by dirt, Kirche had attached herself by her breasts firmly to the side of my head and was happily babbling as she rubbed them against me. Louise and I both ignored her. I was still coming down from the adrenaline of the fight, and Louise was apparently remembering what happened last time she deliberately put herself in harm's way.

"But you were so angry last time," the pinkette argued. I don't know why she was trying to convince me to be mad at her. I think she was trying to convince me to yell at her so that she could try and argue back to defend her actions.

"Last time you thoughtlessly put yourself directly in danger in the name of pride," I corrected. "This time you followed the planned strategy and only entered the battlefield obliquely while taking care to stay out of harm's way and solely for the purpose of delivering a weapon to aide your Servant in the conflict." I gave her a wry smile. "If you'd like, I could prepare a little lecture on the way back. I'm sure I can find something to knit pick at if you really want me too."

She growled at me briefly, and then crossed her arms and pouted. Well, she tried to anyway. The adrenaline was wearing off for her too, and she was looking around the battlefield with a smile forming. She was savoring the feeling it gave her: pride.

This was a victory. She had with her own power stood up in this conflict and she had done so marvelously. Tabitha and Kirche hadn't been able to do more than slow and blind the massive golem, but she herself had been able to deal a serious blow, and her Servant had done performed as well.

I had discarded the rocket launcher to the side, and in between face rubs by Kirche I noticed Longueville's approach from the side. "Did you find any traces?" I asked her, ready to finish this up and go home. With the thief long gone it was time to call it quits. With a smile she reached down and picked up the rocket launcher. She then placed it on her shoulder like she had seen me do and pointed it directly at us.

"What are you doing?" Louise noticed the secretary's actions and asked nervously, and Kirche glanced over to see what had shaken up the pink haired girl, and Tabitha glanced as well.

"Drop your wands and sword, and kneel on the ground," Longueville ordered.

"What do you mean?" Kirche said, also sounding nervous. I just looked at Longueville for a long moment and then dropped my head into my hand with a sigh.

"You're Fouquet, aren't you?" I asked for confirmation, sounding resigned.

"Yes," the secretary nodded, smiling mysteriously. "Now, wands and sword, on the ground."

Startled at the sudden betrayal, the girls followed the orders, and with another sigh I unbuckled the strap keeping Derflinger on my shoulder. While the girls knelt, I just crossed my arms and addressed Louise. "You see," I said, nodding at Fouquet without looking at her, my tone one of lecture. "This is what happens when you carelessly move someone out of the 'potential enemy' list."

"Shirou," Louise growled warningly at me. "Is now really the time for that?" she sounded a little strained. I shrugged carelessly and turned back to address Fouquet. She seemed annoyed at the fact that I was still standing, and backed away to put more distance between the two of us.

"You know," I said sounding a little apologetic, "in retrospect, some of the conversation we had on the way out here must have been really unnerving for you to sit through."

"Yes," she agreed instantly, not sounding worried. Having the impressively destructive weapon on her shoulder aimed at me probably helped her gather the confidence she'd had while facing me. "The part where you talked about dismembering me was particularly unsettling. If I hadn't needed you all to figure out how to use the Staff of Destruction, I would have called the whole thing off at that."

I kept my eyes on her, and when I spoke next it was in the soft toneless voice that Louise already recognized as my favored tone right before I unleashed violence upon someone. "If you put down the weapon and surrender, you will not be harmed." The three girls kneeling beside me glanced at me with confusion. It really didn't look like I was in any position to make demands. Too bad for them I was aware of something they weren't.

"You're a brave one, aren't you?" Fouquet laughed, and then smirked. "Good bye, gandalfr." Without another word she pressed the firing trigger.

Of course, nothing happened.

As confused silence reigned amongst the females I spoke up. "It's a weapon that launches projectiles. Kind of like a bow. And," I added, my voice distant, "it only had one shot." I narrowed my eyes at the now worried looking Fouquet. "You do realize that I'm going to kill you now, don't you?"

"But the headmaster said that he wanted me alive and mostly unharmed," she protested, discarding the useless rocket launcher on the ground and backing away slowly.

"That was before you attempted to launch a lethal attack on a group of unarmed school girls," I gritted out. Louise glanced at me, seeming surprised by my actions. I don't blame her. She had only seen me coldly furious. This, this was hot rage.

Even if it's been a few years, I still have something of a protective streak in me, and a ruthless attack on my unarmed allies and Master was more than enough to awaken it with a vengeance.

Fouquet seemed to realize just how grievous an error she had committed, and then the two of us were moving.

I traced a sword and in the same instance threw it. It was the same sword that Guiche had attempted to use on me, a sword of desperation. Its design was memorable and easy to recall, and its construction was durable yet simple. It was an fast blade to trace on a moment's notice. In response Fouquet instantly summoned a wall of dirt to spring out in front of her. It was a quick spell, almost as instantaneous as my own summons. She had obviously put some thought into her tactics for this encounter. The wall blocked my line of sight, keeping me from aiming at her accurately and forcing me to maneuver in response. She would no doubt be retreating at full speed, laying traps behind her all the way. She didn't want to fight me, she just wanted to escape now.

It would have been effective tactic if swords were the only thing in my arsenal. "Stay down," I snapped at the three girls and traced my next attack.

The blade I traced this time wasn't a sword at all. It was Kamaitachi, a kusarigama: an immense sickle and chain, once wielded by Yamada Shinryukan. It was the first time I ever traced this weapon. It was cursed, to always seek blood with every strike. It simply wasn't something I could use casually, and too different from my usual weapons to experiment safely with. But now on the other hand…

The runes on my hand shone, and with a shout of rage, I swung the immense scythe by the chain it was attached to. It flew in a wide arc above the heads of the three wide eyed girls, and swung obliquely around the edge of the wall of earth between me and Fouquet. Once there, it did as it was inclined to, and sought blood to spill.

Fouquet's scream pierced the air, loud shrill and pained. Without her concentration broken, the wall in front of us dissolved and I was able to see the effectiveness of my strike: she had apparently managed to see the blade coming in time to react, and had gotten an arm between it and her body. It had penetrated through the limb, apparently having been partially deflected by the bones of her forearm, but had managed to pierce deeply into her side despite the defense. She clutched at it desperately, her eyes wide with pain and shock.

With a twist of my wrist I separated the blade from her body an arch of blood splashing out from the wound, and I swung the kusarigama again, arching it back behind me and then high over my head. It whistled, and sped towards the defenseless thief who shrieked with wide eyes as the blade sought to spill her life blood.

"Stop!" my Master shrieked. The noise managed to penetrate the red haze of fury that had clouded my eyes, and I dissolved the projection, the blade barely scratching the neck of Fouquet before it dissolved. "Enough, Shirou," my Master continued, sounding tired but firm. "We're here to capture her. Do so now."

I grimaced, but obeyed. As I closed the ground between me and Fouquet, she stared up at me with a grimace, her eyes narrowed nearly to slits with pain. "My Master is merciful," I told her, my teeth still gritted. "I'm not that kind as to forget when someone tries to kill someone under my protection." I leaned in close, meeting her gaze fiercly. She tried to draw back, but was limited in movement by pain. "Give me an excuse to finish the job," I told her, and she understood that I was looking for one.

She made very sure not to give me any.

*Scene Break*

_That, Louise thought to herself as she collapsed onto the bed happily, had been a very satisfying day. She briefly thought back to the battle, to the return to the academy and the handing over of a very compliant Fouquet, to the battle, to the meeting with the headmaster afterward, to the battle, and to the Ball of Frigg after that, and most importantly the battle, and she sighed happily._

_She had done it! She had stood up and cast magic that was useful. She had been more than just a nuisance. She had accomplished something! She sighed again, nearly crushing the pillow to her chest as she suppressed happy squeals at the thought._

_Still it had been a long day. After learning that the headmaster was planning on getting Kirche and her the title of Chevalier, and Tabitha the Elven Medallion in reward, she had been a little disappointed when nothing awaited Shirou, but he had simply stated that the only reward he needed was a consultation with the headmaster. It seemed a little disproportionate to Louise, but if her Servant was fine with it, then so was she._

_Later at the ball Louise had made it a point to have her first dance with him as well, though Kirche and even Tabitha had had a round with him later. It was important that she display some favor as reward for his superb actions. _

_Louise was not at all disturbed by the fact that she had had to keep Shirou from killing Fouquet. He had been well within his rights: the thief had tried to blatantly murder all four of them without blinking. If she hadn't needed to recover Fouquet in order to properly receive her rewards, she would have let him do so in a heartbeat. _

_That night, perhaps because of the excitement of the day, her dreams of swords and battle was particularly strange._

_This time, there was no appearance of the girl in blue. This time, her Servant was fighting alone, against a man in red. _

_There was something wrong with the scene. Not that it was particularly unusual. The two exchanged strikes in the rubble of what had once been a very nice mansion she noticed. Even the fact that the two were using identical swords wasn't particularly strange. The man in red was probably the original user; she was already aware that her Servant seemed to have a habit of appropriating blades at will._

_The oddness came from the presence of the two together. There was just something about seeing the two near each other that felt wrong, that felt off. There was something to their features, something to each of their presences that seemed to ping at her thoughts, just out of reach._

_She couldn't help but notice the similarity of both of their features, her young Servant and his older opponent. She could see traces of the current Shirou in both of them, young and old. Perhaps the man in red was some kind of relative? Shirou had already said he didn't have any brothers or parents left, but maybe an uncle, or a cousin?_

_As she watched the two fight, she noticed something about the younger Servant's strikes that raised her curiosity. Over the course of these strange dreams she had begun to develop something of an eye for the pace of battle, the different scenes that she had witnessed expanding her experience, even if it was second hand, greatly. It was the rage with which the young Servant was swinging his blows._

_It was a rage she had seen earlier. _

_She smiled slightly, a facial gesture that she had unknowingly started to imitate from her Servant. As she watched the anger of her young Servant she wondered fondly, who was he protecting this time?_


	6. To be Drawn: The Sixth night

Hill of swords 6

Author's note: Okay, not as much action this time. This was mostly to set up future relationships, and develop the characters more. Don't worry though, next chapter is the Albion arc. Maybe the next two, depending on how much writing it takes to finish it off. One of my reviewers will be made very happy by this chapter. You know who you are. Just so you know, I'd always planned on using THAT weapon. It really is just too perfect.

*Story Begin*

"Are you sure you wish to attend class again?" Louise asked me, sounding dubious by my presence once more.

"Yes," I nodded, walking slowly to keep pace with my smaller companion. "Today you're starting the fire magic lectures, aren't you? I've already seen your classes on earth and wind. I'd like to get a general idea of the capabilities of all four of the branches."

"You're certainly dedicated," Louise admitted, praising me in her own roundabout way. It had been a few days since the Fouquet incident, and she was finally starting to come down from the cloud of elation that she had been hovering on. She had had a lot to be elated about. Not only had she been finally done something to help raise her self confidence, she had been knighted as well, and the practice sessions I had started enforcing on her after classes had revealed some interesting results.

She'd been letting it go to her head a bit, but I tried my best to keep her in perspective. It wouldn't do to have my Master overestimate herself any more than it would do to have her underestimate herself. So far keeping her grounded had proven to be a prickly effort.

Still, life went on. Despite Louise's recent exploits, she was still a student attending a school, and so after our little adventure we returned quickly to the normal routine.

The instructor was the bald man whom had excitedly blurted out the abortive comment that had set me on the track of my current private project, Professor Colbert. The man was purely academic. He was the personification of every absent minded yet enthusiastic instructor since the creation of the noble job.

Strangely enough, I found his presence to be somehow nostalgic. There was something about the enthusiastic and disarming instructor that reminded me of big sis-Fuji. I found myself liking him despite myself.

There was a strange contraption in the center of the room. A large metal box with a variety of tubing coming out of it, and most of the students gave it strange looks as they filed into the lecture hall and found seats. I felt a bit of empathy for it as Louise and I were also getting a few looks. Stories about Fouquet's capture had made a circuit through the rumor mill of the school, so it was to be expected. Of course, I've heard versions of the rumor that had everything from Louise and I hiding and letting Tabitha and Kirche do all the work, to me single handedly wrestling an army of golem to the ground with my bare hands, to Louise having accidently blown the thief, the Staff of Destruction, and the surrounding mountain side into little bits with one spell.

Kirche had been more than happy to correct the stories in a heartbeat, and was even now surrounded by a bigger hoard of drooling boys than usual. It was a fact I attributed to how animated Kirche could get when describing the battle, and the effect that had on her breasts as she waved her arms around wildly. She was being mostly accurate about it, though she had a tendency to overstate both her and 'her darling's' roll while understating Louise's. Still, she was being fair and acknowledging that Louise had actually contributed, so at least the pinkette was satisfied, though she still hadn't figured out just why Kirche was being so honest about it. It would have been a prime opportunity for Kirche to cut her out entirely, and with Louise's prevailing bad rep no one would have doubted her.

The two of us and Tabitha had also been peppered with questions, though they quickly moved on from Tabitha and me. Tabitha because she never responded in any way besides turning a page, and me because I flat out told them it was none of their business. At least Kirche and Louise were editing my magecraft out, but the stories of my swordsmanship were getting too well known for my taste.

"Now class," Colbert started the class, and I listened attentively. His lecture on how fire magic was most commonly used as a weapon and for the purpose of destruction quickly captivated my attention. This lecture was right up my alley, seeing as I would most likely end up fighting against a flame user at some time or another.

Though my anticipation was quickly shot down as Colbert proudly proclaimed his belief in showing how flame craft could be used for non-violent uses and shifted the entire lecture in that way.

But I was only interested in the destructive uses, damn it!

My displeasure quickly turned to interest again as he began explaining the contraption in front of us. As he used fire magic to light the oil in one part rhythmically, the fumes caused rotors to turn and on the other end of the box, a small piston that had been painted as a snake began to move in and out of the box.

I was honestly impressed. Though rudimentary, Professor Colbert had managed to create an engine. It was the most sophisticated piece of technology I'd seen since I arrived in this land.

Unfortunately for the Colbert, I was the only one impressed.

"But we could just use magic for that," Kirche summed up the entire classes distain for the achievement in one sentence. Colbert sank down in depression at his achievement being so underestimated.

"My homeland uses inventions such as that," I commented to Louise in a quiet aside. She blinked at me, surprised at my confession.

"Really?" she asked curiously. I rarely spoke in much detail of my home world, seeing as it didn't seem to have much practical relevance here. What good was knowing geography and calculus in a place like this? This was a place where magic and practical crafts were far more important than theoretical abstracts.

"Yes," I nodded. "Though they're much more complex, they're used to move machines like carts and boats at fast speeds. They can even be used for flying machines." I could see Louise looking disbelieving at that proclamation.

"Really?" a voice said next to me, and I started. I hadn't felt anyone's presence there till the instant they spoke! Fast! Next to me Colbert stood, eyes wide and shining like a child's. Louise 'eeped' at the sudden presence of the teacher in such close proximity. Apparently our soft conversation hadn't been as private as I thought. "Your homeland truly has such amazing thing?" he nearly begged. It seemed finding out that his research actually had potential uses besides the joy that came of research for the sake of research had driven him to a childlike state, and he now desperately peppered me with questions.

"Well, yes we do," I admitted leaning further and further away as he leaned in closer and closer in excitement. "Though I'm afraid I don't really know much about the details. I never really paid attention to the exact mechanics of them, just the general."

I was teetering on the edge of falling, having backed away so much that my chair was balanced precariously on two legs hovering on the edge of falling flat on my back. Just as suddenly as he had approached me, he turned on Louise. She started her own backwards scooting. "Miss Valierre," he declared, clutching her hand with that strange godlike speed his joy had lent him. "You must loan me your familiar…"

"Servant," Louise stuttered blankly, automatically correcting him. He ignored her in his excitement and continued.

"…sometime! Even if it's only general things, there's no telling how much he could help me progress with my inventions!"

"S-s-s-sure," she said, having leant so far back that the only thing keeping her from falling was the fact that Colbert was still clutching her hand as he begged.

"Marvelous!" he said happily. The rest of the class could only watch with the kind of horrified looks that you could only use when you realized you were witnessing a potential psychotic breakdown and had no idea what to do. "Your homeland must be an amazing place," he said, whirling to turn back to me. Louise let loose a little shriek when she lost the only thing supporting her chair. I managed to sneak one of my legs behind her and kick her back up to a safer position. "Where is it precisely?"

I shrugged. "It's so far away that I haven't managed to find it on any of the maps I've seen in this land," I explain. It was a bit of a misleading statement but I didn't really feel like noising around my different world status.

"Oh," Colbert said, and the knowledge that I had no idea where my home was seemed to take some of the air out of his sails. Coughing suddenly as realized how he had been acting in front of his students, he turned and returned back to the simple engine he had created in the center of the room. "Well then," he said sounding embarrassed. "Would anyone like to try and make the happy snake," which was the name he had given the little piston that the engine drove, "move?" His thoughts still on the two of us, he smiled congenially at Louise. "Maybe you, Miss Vallierre?"

The rest of the room froze. Tabitha stood up again, and made her way to the back of the room, by an open window, once more ready to make an escape if necessary.

Louise hesistated, and then resolutely stood up. "Yes, Sir," she declared firmly.

"Louise," Kirche pleaded desperately. "There's no need for you to go out of your way like this! I'm sure you're still tired from the Fouquet incident," she tried to reason. Now that Kirche had witnessed firsthand just how destructive Louise's explosions could be, she seemed desperate to not have to witness them again up close.

"What are you talking about?" Colbert spoke up, sounding confused. Then his eyes widened as he realized just what Louise was famous for, and just what he had asked her to do. He whirled back to Louise. "Now that Miss Zerbst mentioned it, I wouldn't want you to have to strain yourself so soon after something so harrowing," he began to say, trying desperately to retract his earlier invitation.

"I'm fine," Louise grit out. With an expression of intense concentration on her face, she made her way down to the opening in the contraption where the professor had used his wand to ignite the oil that propelled the machine. Closing her eyes and murmuring a chant softly to herself, she aimed her wand.

The students in the front row abandoned dignity and sought cover under their desks.

I prepared myself to do the same in an instant if I needed to. However, Louise and I hadn't been resting on our laurels the last few days. It was time to see if the training I'd been assisting her with had borne any fruit.

"Ignite," Louise declared, thrusting her wand forward. The result was mixed. There was no flame that sprang from her wand, just another explosion. However, the scope of the explosion was the success in the equation.

A blast no bigger than a firecracker went off. Unfortunately, there was no flame to accompany it, so the oil remained unlit. Fortunately, the room managed to survive.

Professor Colbert raised his head in surprise. At the last minute he had ducked behind the podium for cover. Several of the students glanced from behind the arms they had thrown up to shield themselves from the incoming destruction.

"We're not all dead?" Kirche asked, sounding surprised. Tabitha didn't bother to react at all.

"That…" Colbert seemed to be unsure whether he should praise Louise for not destroying his precious invention, or chide the girl for not producing any fire in his fire class. "That was a good try?" he settled on.

"Thank you, Professor," Louise said with great dignity. It might not have been a success, but it wasn't the usual level of failure that she normally achieved. "I've managed to make some progress in my private studies. May I take a seat, or should I try again?"

Colbert was quick to jump on the reprieve he had received. Desperately he placed himself between Louise and his precious machine. "No! No, that's fine Miss Valliere. Thank you for your efforts!"

The whole class stared at Louise as she once more resumed her seat, and assumed an attentive posture as though what had happened was an everyday event.

"Good job," I congratulated her quietly.

"I'll take what I can get," she admitted to me shamelessly. Compared to having to clean up the classroom and face disciplinary action for destroying school property like she normally had to after her attempts in the classroom, we both decided to chalk this event up as a win.

*Scene Break*

The rest of the class had passed quietly. Both Louise and I weathered the amazed stares that so many of the class kept finding themselves giving us. We had known that any change from the normal would bring about this kind of reaction, and Louise had prepared herself mentally for this. The fact that she was making any progress at all was enough to alleviate the sting on her pride.

As we were both heading out, Louise to attend her next class and myself to visit Sylphid in the forest for a bit, we were stopped as someone placed themselves between us and the exit. Guiche stood before us, the rose he used as a wand clenched in his hand as he posed dramatically.

"Can I help you, Guiche?" Louise asked bluntly. We hadn't had much interaction with the fop since the disastrous duel at the beginning of our partnership. Neither one of us particularly minded that fact. Louise didn't particularly care for him, mostly due to feminine disdain at his rampant skirt chasing. I didn't like him mostly because he reminded me of Shinji Matou. The way he styled his hair, his shameless boasting, his relentless womanizing, they all reminded me of my once friend that I had grown to hate over the years. It was enough to set my teeth on edge, though I managed to keep my reaction from showing outwardly.

"Not you, Valliere," he declared, and then pointed at me. "It is your familiar…"

"Servant," Louise corrected absentmindedly.

"…that I wish to speak with," Guiche proclaimed, gesturing with his rose grandly. Louise's eyebrows shot up, and I stepped forward to stand in front of the blonde.

"How can I help you?" I asked politely. Was it another duel? Had he finally managed to work up enough courage to try again? The idea was kind of doubtful. The first few days after I had held his life in my hands he had fled from me on sight, and I had it under very good authority that he'd shriek like a little girl every time someone mentioned my name.

I certainly didn't expect him to fall to his knees in front of me, put both hands on the ground and bow till his head hit the floor with an audible thunk. "Please, Sir Emiya. I beg of you! Teach me how to use a sword!"

Now that I didn't see coming.

"Are you serious?" Louise and I both said incredulously at the exact same time. A few of the other students gawked at this as well, among them being Tabitha and Kirche, as well as the blond with curls that had been one of the two he had been cheating on. Well, Tabitha gawking might have been an exaggeration, but she definitely glanced.

"I have not been able to forget the day when you defeated me," Guiche continued dramatically, warming up to his explanation. "The strength you displayed was truly equal to that of even the Dragon, Griffin, or Manticore knights! I have heard the stories of how you with naught but a blade defeated three golems," and there was those exaggerations again, "and now, surely it is your discipline and guidance which has allowed even Louise the Zero, whom even the teachers had abandoned hope for, to show some measure of progress!"

"Guiche," Louise growled, dragging the word out as she lifted her shaking fist into the air while she closed her eyes and ground her teeth. Guiche, once more displaying a dangerous inability to display even the most rudimentary of survival instincts continued. Shrugging his shoulders exaggeratedly, he continued.

"Ah, if even someone as pathetic as The Zero could flourish under your tutelage, then surely one of such distinguished lineage as I…"

That was as far as Guiche got. Louise lifter her hand and without another word and gestured with her wand. Another explosion, this one far less restrained than the one that Louise used in class ripped the air.

Coughing, Guiche shook his head. A fine wave of ash fell from his hair. He coughed. "Ouch…" he managed to say.

"Let's go," Louise ground out through her grit teeth.

"Actually, if he's serious about this, I wouldn't mind at all," I said, giving an innocent smile.

"What?" Louise asked, completely taken aback by my acceptance.

My innocent smile grew wider.

*Scene Break*

"Well then," I said briskly. "First off, why don't you make a practice sword?"

"But of course," Guiche gushed. We had returned to the place of our first conflict, the vestry courtyard. It was a shaded and semi-isolated spot, where we were unlikely to be interrupted. Well, we would have been if it wasn't for the fact that we had a small following of curious students. We had agreed to meet after classes were over, and word had spread amongst the students. Consequentially a few of the more curious had shown up as well wanting to see what kind of lessons I would be giving.

"What are you doing here, maid?" Louise asked, having been one of the ones who chose to attend. With the failure to find relevant information about human summons, she had instead turned to spending her time in the library researching different kinds of destructive magic. She'd find and copy any that looked like they might be similar to her own talents, and then later during out private practice sessions she would start experimenting with them. So far she'd managed limited success with some fire and wind spells, less with earth, and the success rate of water was about zero. Limited success in that she would manage to destroy something, just without any manifestation of the element that was supposed to be present. It was a work in progress.

"Shirou asked me to bring him supplies," Siesta said brightly. She had set up a small table at one end of the training field with some refreshments, and had brought along two towels and a bucket at my request. Louise, Kirche, and Tabitha had all quickly purloined the seats on the table, leaving the rest of the onlookers to stand. Lounging happily behind the three were Sylphid and Flame, who nibbled on some of the refreshments when no one was looking, the two trilling and croaking respectively happily.

Posing for the audience, Girche gestured with his rose wand. With an organic movement, it sprouted forward, extending into a wooden practice sword. I inspected it carefully.

"Not bad," I admitted reluctantly. Instead of simply making a round stick like I had assumed he would, he had carefully shaped the wood into an exact replica of the sword he had formed against me in the past. It looked like he really did have some experience with blades.

"My father is a general in her Majesty's army," he proclaimed. "Battle is in my blood. It is my sacred right as a noble to be able to wield such weaponry freely, even if my magic renders these skills secondary."

"It's your sacred right to shut up and die, two timer," the blond girl he had been cheating on muttered, her eyebrow twitching at the posturing of the other blond in front of her.

"Montmorency," Guiche protested, looking aggrieved. "It is my love for you which compels me to even now grow stronger! It is for you that I now learn the barbarian arts!"

Barbarian arts? My eyebrow twitched. Well, at least now I know why he was so eager to take lessons. Self improvement my butt, he was trying to make good with his ex. Still, who am I to deny one who wants lessons? Especially when the teaching promises to be so satisfying.

"Well then," I said dryly. "Shall I begin imparting these barbarian arts to you then, good noble?"

From an evolutionary standpoint, there was no way Guiche would ever survive long enough to pass on his genes, thus aiding the development of humanity. My reason for stating this fact was that Guiche didn't even notice my sarcasm, and instead pompously raised his head. "Indeed, good Sir Emiya! Let us begin!"

With an innocent smile I reached behind my back and traced the weapon I would need for this encounter. With a flourish I drew it. Guiche's eyes widened at that.

"I've been meaning to ask," he said slowly, eyeing the blade I had drawn. "But where do you keep getting your weapons from? Is there some kind of magic artifact you carry that allows you to summon them from somewhere?"

"Nonsense," I declared, lying straight to his face. "I just keep them concealed on my person through ancient barbarian techniques." At the table Kirche giggled, hiding her own smirk behind a teacup, and Louise smiled slightly at that.

"Indeed," Guiche said, and his eyes never left my weapon. "If you don't mind me asking, what kind of weapon is that? It feels…" he trailed off looking nervous. "…Ominous." he finally finished.

"It's just a practice sword from my homeland," I declared innocently. In my hand was the Torashinai, the tiger practice sword, a fearsome weapon with unparalleled thirst for blood that was kept sealed by the blood line of the Fujimara. It had been wielded by big sis-Fuji for years when she ruled the kendo circuits before she dedicated herself to education, and in that time it had tasted the flesh of many a helpless innocent. Now, once more called to light, the demonic sword emitted a fearsome aura, eager to be wielded once more. The tiger colored pendant on the end blew in a nonexistent breeze. "Now then, let's begin," I said, changing the subject and shifting my grip.

"Indeed," and Guiche lowered his sword in another grand gesture, bowing dramatically. "Let us both elegantly cross…"

That was as far as he got as I closed the ground between us quickly and brought the bamboo tip of the practice shinai up in a devastating uppercut. It connected with Guiche's chin hard enough to snap his head backwards, and lifted him off the ground. He transcribed a beautiful arc, the only noise coming from the courtyard at the blow being his own startled 'urk', and then he crashed back down to earth with a thump, unconscious.

"Siesta," I called calmly.

"Yes Shirou?" she said, not sounding the least bit put off by the sudden presence of an unconscious person in front of her.

"Could you please bring me the bucket?" I balanced the Torashinai on my shoulder casually.

"Right away!" she flounced hurriedly to comply, happy to assist me. Once I had the bucket, I filled it from the nearby fountain, and then promptly upturned it on the unconscious boy's head.

"Urk!" he proclaimed, flopping gracelessly. He blinked a few times, and then pointed at me accusingly. "What the hell was that?" he shouted accusingly. "I had not yet prepared myself!"

"We had both already agreed to start," I pointed out cheerfully. "My lessons had already begun then! Now, the first rule of my lesson is that from the moment I say 'start', to the moment I say 'stop' the both of us will attempt to hit each other with our weapons, while blocking the other's weapon. Got it?" I said, waiting for what I knew would happen.

Guiche stumbled to his feet, looking a little uncertain, but trying to maintain his dignity none the less. "Yes," he stuttered and then seemed to gather back together his tattered dignity. "Very well, let us cross blades honorably…" he started to pose again, getting his wind back.

I shot forward once again, using my own speed. I didn't need to reinforce myself, and the runes didn't seem to shine as long as I was only using a practice weapon, even one as fearsome as Torashinai. The tip of the bamboo blade slammed point first into Guiche's diaphragm, driving the wind out of him hard, sending him to a knee gasping.

I continued from where I left off. "The second rule of my lessons is no talking. Speaking in battle is the most unforgiveable of sins. Every breath you waste on words is the one that should have been directed at trying to defeat your opponent. Every word is the word that could cause you to fail your allies, to miss your objective, and get yourself killed. Because of that, sinners will be punished in my lessons. Got it?" I asked, the same innocent smile on my face.

Guiche's wide eyes stared up at me while he gasped. It seemed his long dormant survival instincts had begun to kick in, because he seemed to finally realize that my innocent smile really wasn't that innocent. He wordlessly nodded, and regained his feet. This time he didn't say anything, just held his wooden blade in front of him desperately.

It didn't do him any good, as I swung once more, and he barely registered my movement before the shinai found his ribs hard, bruising him.

"Yeah Darling," Kirche shouted shamelessly from the side. "Beat that fool to the ground!"

"This is a lovely tea," Louise commented to Siesta, not paying an ounce of attention to the thrashing I was unleashing on the fop. "Have you been getting lessons from Shirou? I've noticed some of his flavor in this."

"Yes!" Siesta beamed at the pink haired girl. "I'm happy you noticed."

Tabitha kept reading, though she too seemed to find the tea delightful.

They were the only ones taking the thrashing I continued to release on the helpless noble so casually. A few of the onlookers' eyebrows twitched as I dismantled my opponent. This obviously wasn't what they were expecting.

Except for the blond, Montmorency. As she watched her ex get beat up, she began to smile beatifically.

*Scene Break*

"Well," I declared, "I'm impressed. I didn't honestly think you'd make it this long."

The bruised lump of flesh in front of me that was once the person known as Guiche moaned piteously.

After the first half hour, most of the gawkers had wandered away, many of them slightly disturbed by my lesson. Besides Louise, Kirche, Tabitha, and Siesta, the only other one who remained had been Montmorency. After the first couple of wallops I had given Guiche, she had found a seat of her own and began to cheer me right alongside Kirche.

I think she found Guiche getting hit almost as satisfying as I did.

The lump of flesh moaned something that could have been, "why?"

"Now, what precisely did that accomplish?" Louise asked, sounding impatient for having to wait two hours for me to finish. She hadn't left though. For some reason, there was just something about seeing Guiche get beat up which was perversely amusing. I took it as a sign of his inherent dislikeability.

"Well," I began, scratching the back of my head with Torashinai. The evil blade was nearly purring with satisfaction. "I actually thought he'd quit after the first few hits and let this whole silly idea be forgotten." That seemed to make a lot of sense to Louise. Even she saw that it would have been easier to just have him call the whole thing off then to try and talk him out of it. "But since he actually managed to keep through the entire lesson, I'm more than willing to continue giving them. This was surprisingly good exercise." And it was. Sure, running for the sake of my endurance and practice drills swinging my various swords was good for keeping my physical shape, but aiming for specific spots on a moving and flailing target certainly helped me keep my hand eye coordination sharp.

"So, this was a test of my dedication as a student," Guiche managed to get out from where he was still panting on the ground. He seemed to have recovered enough to roll over and try to stand up, but was having trouble determining just which direction was up, and so had stopped half way through.

"Partially," I admit. "The other reason was that this is the fastest way to achieve useful results."

"Why's that, Darling?" Kirche asked. She seemed to have regarded the whole exercise as a chance to watch me being 'dashing', and was enjoying seeing the fruits of her labor. Though she was a bit more discrete, Siesta too seemed to be enjoying the sight of me with my clothes sticking to me with sweat, though she politely brought one of the towels I had requested so I could begin drying some of it off. I would definitely need a bath and a wash of my clothes later this evening. I should consider getting Louise to lend me some money so I could get myself a change.

"There are two ways to improve in combat," I said, this time assuming the 'Tohsaka Rin lecture pose number 3', which involved having one hand on my hip and the other gesturing with some kind of long pointy object. Rin usually favored a collapsible pointer, but I made do with Torashinai. "The first is the way most people prefer. Slow exercise to increase familiarity with the weapon, repeated drills to get the body accustomed to the basic movements, and guided sparring to let the student slowly get used to actual fighting."

"I like that one," Guiche muttered, sounding aggrieved that we hadn't gone about in that method.

"What's the other then?" Kirche asked. She sounded like she didn't really care, just as long as she got to see me standing and acting authoritative and confident. She was fanning her breasts again while fingering the neckline of her blouse. The girl definitely didn't lack in directness. It was almost admirable the shameless way she went for what she wanted.

"Battle," I put it plainly. "In actual battle, a person can make leaps in skill that can dwarf years of training and practice. With the fear of actual death hanging over them, people move faster, plan harder, thing more carefully, and react more precisely." I paused and cocked my head before allowing, "unless they freeze up in fear and then they just die faster."

Guiche was looking up at me, drinking in my words devoutly. It seems he really was serious about this for more than just impressing women. "So then this…?" he trailed off, wincing at a particularly painful bruise on his ribs.

"Is the closest way we can simulate battle without using actual blades," I confirmed. "By genuinely striking you as painfully as possible, you react to fear of pain in the same way as you react to fear of death. You pay closer attention to my movements, learning faster than any drill could teach you how to read the angle of my strikes. You move your own blade faster as well, desperately learning the best way to block so you don't get hit again in the same place. You learn how to dodge, how to watch your surroundings so you don't trip and leave yourself open. You learn which skills you're best at, which are more appropriate for your weapons. All kinds of knowledge and experience are imparted to you like that," I made a quick swing of Torashinai in order to indicate a fast motion.

"So you weren't just hitting Guiche for the fun of it?" Montmorency asked, sounding disappointed at the fact that I had an actual reason for my treatment of her ex.

"Montmorency," Guiche whined piteously, seeming driven to tears by her heartlessness. I interrupted.

"No, that was just a lucky side effect," I admitted, causing Guiche to shut up and stare at me with a betrayed look. "It's nothing personal against you, Guiche," I assured him. "It's just that you look like someone whom I absolutely despised, and I found hitting you over and over again to be very therapeutic." I frowned, my grip on my practice sword strengthening, causing the wrapped bamboo to audibly groan. "Just thinking about that wretched, despicable, contemptible, putrescent waste of flesh makes me want to wrap my hands around his detestable little neck and squeeze until his eyes pop out and his tongue hangs gasping out of his twisted dead face…" I had grown more and more animated as I ranted about what I would like to do to Shinji Matou, and it was when I heard a clattering noise from the table it made me realize that I had been imitating strangling someone unconsciously.

Turning to the table to see what it was that had broken me out of my fantasy I discovered that the only one still sitting down was Tabitha. Siesta, Louise, Montmorency, Kirche, and even Sylphid and Flame had all crowded behind the calm blue haired girl as though they were trying to use her to shield them from me.

"Umm…"I said, feeling embarrassed. "What?"

Tabitha answered in her usual soft tone. "Scary." Then she turned a page, showing no other reaction to my apparently frightening monologue. Behind her, four human heads and two reptilian ones nodded in agreement with her summation.

"Sorry about that," I apologized, rubbing one hand behind my head, embarrassed by the zeal of my dislike for my one time friend.

"Given the…" Louise searched for an appropriate word and finally settled on, "intensity of your distaste for that guy, I assume he's already dead?" She was the first too abandon shelter behind the stoic bluette, and seemed embarrassed at her lack of composure in front of her Servant.

"Yes," I admitted regretfully. "A shame I wasn't the one who got to do it."

"Given your description, I gather he was the kind that a lot of people would dislike," Kirche tried to console me, also resuming her seat slowly. "Did one of his other enemies catch up with him first?"

"Not precisely. You see, he tried to kill me, and there was this other girl who wanted to kill me first, so she killed him so that he wouldn't have the chance to take another shot at me before she did," I explained.

"That seems like a rather complicated series of events," Montmorency offered, seeming hesitant to abandon the shelter of Tabitha, but willing to do so in order to be able to continue to gaze upon the beaten form of Guiche.

I thought about how to explain the Grail War to these girls, and finally settled on, "It was a strange situation."

Suddenly, I felt my eyes dilate. Even as Siesta's own eyes widened and she opened her mouth to shout a warning I brought my free hand up across my body, even with my face, and caught the wooden practice sword that Guiche had been swinging at my neck from behind.

Dead silence filled the courtyard. Tabitha whispered in her usual soft voice, not sounding impressed but more like she was simply commenting, "Blind sword stopping."

"Impossible," Guiche murmured. And then seemed to realize that his planned strike had been easily stopped, and it was more than likely to have upset me. It certainly seemed to upset the girls who were watching.

"Guiche!" Montmorency cried, sounding appalled at his dishonorable attack.

"I, that is, I mean," Guiche began to stammer, and I finally turned to look at him.

"I'm honestly impressed," I admit, giving him the first honest smile of the day. "Good job."

"Huh?" a sentiment that was echoed by the both Guiche and the girls, who had no doubt expected something besides praise from me.

"I had said at the beginning, that the lesson would continue till I said 'stop', didn't I?" I pointed out. "Since I hadn't said it yet, that meant you were still free to attack. I didn't think you'd pick up on that so soon. And that you did so without a word of warning means you understood my lecture on the sin of talking in battle." I hated to admit it, but Guiche genuinely had good instincts when it came to battle. If he continued to take to lessons this well, then I might just have found a serious sparring partner in a few weeks. "By the way, you can stop now," I told him, releasing his practice sword. Jaw agape, he did just that.

"How?" he finally managed to get out, still too stunned by the complete ease I had detected and blocked his attack.

"This brings me to the second reward of this training," I explain to him. "You've no doubt heard stories about how experienced warriors develop a sixth sense that allows them to know when they are being attacked from behind?" Guiche nodded hesitantly, and the girls watching cocked their heads, interested despite themselves. "Well it's completely exaggerated, but not entirely untrue."

I took a step back so that I could demonstrate to him. "When you're awareness is heightened because of the fear of battle, your body notices things it normally wouldn't. We perceive the world with more than just our eyes. Even though we normally just use sight to maneuver around us, we are also unconsciously hearing, smelling, and feeling the world around us as well. The more you familiarize yourself with combat, the more your body unconsciously recognizes these other senses as well. Eventually, when you've unconsciously catalogued enough of these signals, your body begins to react to them without you consciously recognizing them."

"Signals?" Siesta asked, her head cocked to the side. She was the one there with the least experience with violence in my estimation. Even if the students themselves had only a few personal experiences, they had no doubt grown up witnessing things like duels, or hearing stories of great deeds.

"Like the sound of grass rustling," I demonstrated, shuffling my feet slightly so that the greenery beneath my feet made the softest of sounds. "Or the noise of a strike being swung," and here I once more cut the air with Torashinai. Its audible 'woosh' was more noticeable then the grass. "Or even the smell of someone who's been sweating for two hours trying to sneak up behind you," and I gave a pointed glance at Guiche, who flushed a bit at his unkemptness. For the usually immaculate fop, it was probably an embarrassing experience to be seen like that.

"Truly," Guiche admitted, still sounding a bit awed by my impossible block, "this is a powerful method of training. Why is it not used more frequently?"

"Because it's insane," I said bluntly. "Who on earth would willingly subject themselves to such a questionable training exercise? Everything I showed here can be got through simple hard work and patience if you're willing to put effort into your studies." I shrugged. "But since this is the way I learned, it's the only way I know how to teach."

"Truly, the sword master who taught you must have been an extraordinary man," Guiche praised. Now that he could talk again without getting punished, he seemed to be warming back up to his extravagant ways.

"Actually, it was a woman," I cut him off before he could get started. It was getting late, and I still had something I needed to speak with Louise about.

Guiche continued on, the only sign that he had heard me was changing his gender references to female. "A woman of great strength and power. Surely such an Amazon…"

"Actually she was rather short. Very petite. Only came up to about here," I corrected, indicating on my chest a height only a few inches higher then Louise's own diminutive stature. The still watching girls seemed to get a kick out of the idea of me being tossed around like Guiche just was by a smaller member of their own gender.

"She was at least of great skill?" Guiche finally asked, the wind being taken out of his sails by my constant correction. I had to give him the last one though.

"In all my time I have never again met her equal," I acknowledge, a wistful smile on my face.

Surprisingly, it was Louise who spoke up. "Your instructor: she's the lover you have back home, isn't she?"

"Really?" Kirche chimed in, suddenly paying close attention. She probably was already cataloguing the important details of her rival closely, seeking ways to exploit them. Siesta too seemed to be paying close attention at that as well.

A bit surprised by the insightfulness of my Master's observation, I only nodded. I didn't feel the need to speak anymore on the subject.

Feeling a bit uncomfortable at the scrutiny of the others at the sudden revelation of my personal life, I turned fully away from Guiche, preparing to speak to Louise.

Instead I suddenly found myself eye to snout with Sylphid. With a happy 'Kyuui!' she pressed her head against my chest and gave me a sudden push. When I tried to take a step back, I discovered that Flame had snuck up behind me and crouched beside my legs. With no way to regain my balance, I gave a startled and undignified yelp and tumbled flat on my back. Flame climbed on top of me, and started dancing joyfully, croaking all the while at his victory over me. Sylphid gave a satisfied trill, and I knew without a doubt who had engineered this little stunt, the sneaky little trickster.

I'm so dousing her next snack with pepper after this.

"I should mention that as a result of increased sensitivity to hostility, the body tends to recognize the actions of friends as nonthreatening, thus tending to leave one more open to playful assault as well," I dead panned, as Flame continued his victory dance over my prone body as the watching humans stared at the scene with visible confusion.

*Scene Break*

"Louise," I said carefully, as she and I shared a cup of tea as was the custom before sleeping. "I think I've discovered just what the problem with your magic is."

She spit-taked at the suddenness of my proclamation, drenching Deflinger accidently.

"Oi!" the sword protested. "It's not like I can wipe that up myself," it complained. Promptly I reached over and started running a napkin over the blade. I had been working hard on getting the rust out of it, and by the Root, I'm not going to have to go through that again just because my Master couldn't hold her tea.

"W-w-what?" she asked stuttering in surprise. "What do you mean? Have you figured out precisely why I can only make explosions?" She asked eagerly. She was so excited by this development that she didn't even realize that she still had tea dripping down her chin from her earlier faux passé.

With a sigh, I leaned over and cleaned her off too. She squirmed like a child having their face wiped by their mother as I continued. "The day we captured Fouquet, she called me by a strange name, do you remember?"

"Vaguely," she said her eyes going blank as she struggled to recall the specifics of the day. "It was gan, gan-something, wasn't it?" she refocused her eyes on me, barely contained impatience over my questions. She obviously just wanted me to say it blankly, but if I did that, she'd probably dismiss it instantly.

"Gandalfr," I corrected. "Earlier, before we set out, Professor Colbert began to call me something that began with 'gan' as well. Once we returned, while you and the others were getting ready for the ball, I stayed behind to ask the Headmaster Osman what he knew about it."

Not just about that as well. The headmaster had thought that when I'd stay behind, I'd ask him about the Staff of Destruction. When he mentioned it specifically, he seemed to be hinting at something. I had assumed he was talking about the subject I wanted to discuss initially. When I responded confused, he got confused as well. It had led into a brief yet humorous conversation where we both tried to figure out what the other was talking about. It vaguely resembled an Abbot and Costello skit by the end of it.

By the end of it, I had managed to discover what I wanted to know. It had taken me a few days to confirm it in private before I brought it up with my Master.

"And?" Louise asked, leaning forward so eagerly that she didn't even notice when she put her elbow in her tea. I sighed again, knowing I'd have to wash that later and resigned to the fact that getting that stain out would be nearly impossible. Leaning over, I removed her elbow from it, her once more squirming like a little kid. I also made sure to remove everything else she could accidently spill on herself as well.

"It turned out that these runes," I gestured at my left hand, "had been recorded before. The last time they were confirmed was on the familiar of the one you call Founder Brimir".

"What!" Louise shrieked at that. Leaning over and somehow managing to spill MY tea this time, right on to my lap, she latched onto my left hand and yanked me across the table so she could study the runes there more closely. With a patient sigh, I let her do so, trying to get comfortable with the table digging into my stomach sharply. "These runes…" she whispered. "So what does it mean, 'Gandalfr'?" she asked, as she zealously studied my left hand.

"Well, a lot of its so old that there's no way to confirm it, but from what I've been able to find out, it looks like I was wrong when I said I was summoned without a class," I admitted. She gave me a curious look for a second before returning her attention to my hand. I wonder if she was getting anything out of that study besides an eye ache? "The Gandalfr was supposedly able to wield any blade, and was capable of standing alone against an army. The legend goes that since this Brimir guy's magic took so long to cast, it was always the Gandalfr who would defend him until he could successfully use his magic."

The completely irreverent way I kept mentioning what was apparently a holy figure in this culture had set Louise's eyes to twitching. "So what does this have to do with my magic?" she asked, completely missing the point I was trying to subtly make.

I chalked it up to willing blindness, and started to explain it to her, patiently. "Well, since familiars are supposed to represent the kind of magic that their master uses, and the last person to have the exact same familiar as you used the supposedly legendary 'void' magic…."

There, now she got it. Her eyes shot open, she fell back into her chair, and her face went white. "Oh," she said weakly.

"Yup," Derflinger said congenially. "The last time I was wielded by a Gandalfr was about six thousand years ago. Gotta say, you two fit the bill pretty good."

"Oh?" I asked, surprised. Louise had set to twitching in her seat as she seemed to struggle with what appeared to be a complete inability to come to a decision on just how she was supposed to be reacting right now. "You knew about the runes? Why didn't you mention it before?" I wasn't too upset. I figured it out on my own in time to use it in combat, and even if I didn't have the runes or the strange ability they seemed to give me, I still would have been able to handle anything that had been thrown at me so far.

"Well," it admitted sheepishly, "it was six thousand years ago. I kind of forgot about it up till now."

Louise finally seemed to be able to react in a way that wasn't white face stuttering and twitching. "You forgot! How could you forget? To have been in the presence of the legendary Founder, to have seen void magic in person, er, sword," she corrected herself, "and you forgot?"

"Six thousand years is a pretty long time," the sword excused itself shamelessly.

"But it's the founder! That's like forgetting your own name!" Louise groaned exasperatedly.

"Actually," I spoke up, "that's not as hard as you'd think. It's only been about ten years and I've already forgotten my birth name. Emiya was the name of my adoptive parent." Louise twitched again, and then put her elbows on the table and collapsed into her hands in despair.

"I hate it when the two of you gang up on me," she groaned.

"Sorry Master," I apologized with a wry smile.

Derflinger chirped up too. "Will it help if I tell a few dirty jokes? Now that I'm thinking about it, I'm remembering a lot more from that time, and Brimir always used to love dirty jokes."

Louise went perfectly still, and then decided for the sake of her sanity she was going to ignore that last bit. "So what does that mean for the both of us?" she finally settled on asking me.

"Well, in my case, I've been doing some experimenting, trying to see the extent of what my class permits me. I have to say, it's amazing. Increased speed, strength, agility, just as long as I'm holding a weapon," I exult happily. "The best part is that whenever I hold a weapon, I instantly know how to use it. I've been doing a lot of practice with some of my more exotic blades, and with a little training I should be able to start using some of the weapons in my arsenal that I was too worried to touch before."

"That's good to hear," she said, and meant it. Anything that made me more effective was a plus in her book. "And for me?" she asked eagerly, waiting to see what I've managed to come up with to help her bring her own skills up to par.

"I've no idea," I admitted, and she froze. I could almost hear a cracking sound as her hopes and dreams shattered. "It's the same problem we had before. Nobody has the first clue how to use void magic. It's a lost art."

"Let me see," Derflinger spoke up. "A shepherdess, a knight errant, and a one legged hunchback walk into a bar," it began. Without another word I reached over and sheathed it completely. I don't think Louise would appreciate Brimir's list of favorite dirty jokes right now.

I was sure as heck going to get the details out of the sword later, but for now I think I'd better limit the amount of shocks that Louise was exposed to before her sanity deserted her completely.

"So that means I'm doomed to be hopeless forever." All the life flowed out of Louise and she melted like a snow man on asphalt at noon of midsummer.

"Not really," I encouraged. "You have to figure that no one taught the founder guy the basics and he turned out okay apparently. It just means that you're going to have to work hard to figure out the basics on your own. We've already managed to make progress, after all."

That definitely seemed to light the fire back in her. Nodding she opened her mouth once more to continue, when a knocking on the door interrupted us.

"At this hour?" she asked, sounding annoyed. Grabbing Derflinger from his chair, I moved to open the door. When I did a familiar figure was waiting there.

"Well," I said awkwardly. "Good evening again, your highness," I greeted the cloaked princess Henrietta with a brief bow.

*Scene Break*

"Tea?" I offered, as I held the kettle over the clean cup I had set out for the visiting royalty.

"Yes," she smiled up at me in a melancholic way. As I began to pour, she sighed.

"Lemon? Sugar?" I offered. She nodded to both, but didn't say anything else. I used a little bit of both, and assumed that if she didn't like it I could just pour her a new cup.

"Princess Henrietta," Louise began. She still hadn't completely recovered from the shocks of our last conversation, but appeared to be making great strides in that area. "It's always wonderful to see you again, but so late at night and unannounced? Surely you must have some great reason to compel you to seek out my company so late at night.

"Yes," the princess agreed, "as much as I wish that I could simply seek you out for the pleasure of your company, Louise, I'm afraid that I do indeed have a reason to seek you out…" She trailed off and looked at me with confusion. "Excuse me, Mr. Familiar," she began.

"Servant," Louise corrected automatically, and then blushed as she realized she had corrected her princess without realizing it. Princess Henrietta seemed to take it in stride, still staring at me with a puzzled expression.

"Mr. Servant," she began again. "Why are you pouring your sword a cup of tea?"

"Because it likes the smell," I answered honestly, taking my own seat.

"I see," she said in a voice that said, 'no I don't really see, but it's never a good idea to provoke a crazy person'. "Well them," she turned back to Louise. "As you know, the land of Albion has been in conflict for some time. A number of nobles have instigated open rebellion, and the royal family has been driven back for some time," she began, beginning what seemed like a roundabout explanation of what she has come to call on us to do, and then paused to give another sigh.

I take a stab in the dark. "And you want us to assassinate the remaining members of the royal family and blame it on the rebelling nobles so that Tristain will have an excuse to enter the war in reprisal and then annex off the country?" I asked.

"What!" Both the princess and my Master spoke up, appalled by my conclusion.

"Why on earth would you think that?" Louise demanded of me, turning red with embarrassment.

"It's my experience that when politicians talk about neighboring countries political upheaval, it's generally in regard of how to take advantage of it," I admitted. "Judging from your reactions, I take it you want us to support the royal family instead and assassinate the leaders of the rebellion?" I offered again, correcting my target.

"Why do you keep offering to kill for the princess?" Louise grit out through her teeth, nearly pulling her hair out in frustration.

"You ordered me to treat the princess with the same respect I treat you," I reminded her. "I've offered to kill for you a few times already, so…"

Louise desperately turned to Princess Henrietta, bowing profusely. "Please forgive my Servants zeal. It is simply his way of showing his devotion!" she tried to explain away my actions and salvage the situation.

"How about this one," Derflinger had worked itself loose from its scabbard. "A duchess and a stable boy are in the woods…"

Louise shut up the sword by slamming it back into its scabbard, and then shut me up by hitting me with it.

*Scene Break*

_By the time Louise had managed to get to sleep that night, she was still embarrassed by the situation from earlier. She had managed to explain away the actions of her Servant and his sword sufficiently that the princess had forgiven them both. By the end of it, the Princess had been strangely touched by the zeal that Shirou had displayed in his service for his Master, and grateful that the same zeal had apparently been extended to herself as well._

_The sword had taken a bit more explaining. Most of it was just desperate attempts to change the subject. Louise wasn't ready herself to acknowledge the Founder's love of dirty jokes and she certainly didn't want to expose someone as noble and refined as the princess to them either!_

_Still, she was also excited by the trust that the princess had shown in her. In order to prepare for the conflict that threatened to spill over from Albion's borders, her highness was to be wed to the emperor of Germania. However, in order to protect the political union, they had to first recover a letter from the prince of Albion in order to prevent the rebellion from using it to halt the upcoming nuptials. _

_Louise wasn't quite naïve enough to have any doubts just what was in that letter, but was careful not to broach that subject nonetheless._

_In the morning her and her Servant were to meet up with the princess' guide, someone she trusted to assist the two on their travels to the floating island._

_Well, her and her Servant and Guiche. _

_Louise almost had felt bad about the beating Shirou had given him earlier. Now she just wished her Servant had hit the annoying skirt chaser harder._

_With all this on her mind as she tried to sleep, strangely enough it was the revelation that Shirou had made earlier that lingered._

_She'd had her doubts about the dreams. But now she was certain. In some way, she was seeing pieces of her Servant's past. It was the reason she had been able to guess the relationship between Shirou and the one who taught him so easily._

_Because she had already seen it._

_That night, she dreamed of swords and Battle._

_She dreamed of her Servant, and her Servant's Servant…of Shirou and his lover, as they battled against an ominous looking man. Dressed all in gold, his very posture was that of arrogant disdain. Louise felt honest fear when looking at him. She watched as the two were driven by a rain of swords that emitted from behind their golden foe._

_That night, as they battled, she watched the interaction between Shirou and his lover closely. She could see it in their reactions around each other. They would respond instantly, without the need for words. They would each selflessly defend the other, willing to bear injury and potential death for the one they fought beside._

_The bonds that can form can be stronger than any marriage, any friendship, any camaraderie. Those were the words that Shirou had spoken to her once, back when he and she had first met._

_Louise began to see just how strong those bonds could be. She began to wonder, as she watched the two battle, what kind of bonds would she form with her Servant? _

_She began to wonder what kind of bond she WANTED to form._

_And so she dreamed of swords and battles. And lovers._


	7. To be Drawn: The Seventh night

Hill of Swords: The Seventh night

Author's note: Okay, I'm really satisfied with this chapter. I think I did a good job with both the action, and the conversation. Some real development here for some of the characters. For those of you disappointed that I seemingly skipped over the love potion and the Fairy Inn, don't worry. I'm following the book time line rather than the anime, so those will be coming up later instead.

For all you avid F/sn-ers, I'm sure all of you who've been wondering just which route I was following, now you know! For those of you wondering what this means and why Shirou's been acting the way he has, well, in the next few chapters you'll see why I've been making a point of the dream sequences at the end of each night.

Also, the first one to identify Kabutsuchi and what series it comes from gets a cookie. Oreo, double stuffed.

*Chapter Start*

"Alright," I said in a confused voice. "I have a question for you Louise."

"What might that be, Servant?" she groused. Apparently she still hadn't forgiven me for the scene last night with the princess. I stood by my reasoning that both my offers were both entirely logical and completely acceptable. Louise continued to disagree.

It seemed like this would be one of those philosophical debates which would never truly be resolved.

"That ring the princess gave you," I began, "it's called the Water Ruby, isn't it?"

"Yes? So?" she asked, not seeing what I was trying to get at.

"If it's a ruby, then why is it blue?" I asked bluntly. Louise opened her mouth to respond, and then closed it. She promptly ignored my question. Guess she didn't know why either.

Guiche ignored the entire conversation. "I have a request to make," he began instead, addressing the both of us. "I would like to bring my familiar along as well."

"You mean the giant mole?" I asked. Louise didn't say anything, but had begun eyeing the ring on her finger with the great big blue stone, her eyes narrowed in deep thought. Apparently now that I brought it up, it was beginning to bother her too.

"My beautiful, lovable, cute Verdandi is more than just some giant mole," Guiche protested at my summation of his companion. "She is a noble and elegant creature, whose beauty defies description."

"Well," I said thoughtfully. "She moves underground doesn't she? Will she be able to keep up? We have to move pretty fast. This mission is a bit time sensitive after all." I was considering the utility of having a giant burrower accompany us. On one hand, it could be tricky having it on hand. On the other hand, it did open the possibility of avoiding sentinels and launching surprise attacks from below.

"It's blue because…" Louise began, apparently having come up with a suitably impressive answer to my question, but was interrupted as the earth in front of her began to shake. Glancing at the disturbance curiously, and promptly losing her train of thought, she 'eeped' in surprise when suddenly a large furry face appeared, framed by two large paws, and emphasized by a truly prodigious nose.

"I'm not really seeing the cuteness myself," I admit, looking at the strange creature. Guiche was appalled by my lack of refinement.

"Just look at those beautiful eyes, the soft fur, the delicate pads of her feet," he began listing what he considered wonderful traits, but was interrupted when the mole let loose a grumbling noise, and then promptly launched itself at Louise. She had time for an abortive 'eh?' before she found herself being pinned to the ground by a mole the size of a medium bear.

"Finally," I sighed in gratitude, wiping my brow in relief. "Someone else gets molested by strange familiars!"

"She's not usually like this," Guiche apologized to me. We both ignored the squirming mass of girl and mole on the ground as the creature waddled about on top of her. "She's usually a bit more reserved around strangers."

"Why aren't either of you helping me?" Louise managed to get out, her head sticking off to the side as the mole chuffed on top of her.

"I'm worried that if I get too close Verdandi will start waddling on me instead," I admit. "It's hard enough with Sylphid and Flame constantly coming after me. I don't need a third admirer."

"This was so much funnier when it was happening to you," Louise admitted, having managed to pry the furry attacker far enough away so that she could breath. The mole kept chuffing, but seemed to have all her attention on the ring we were talking about earlier. Guiche clapped a fist in an open hand.

"Ah!" he declared, sounding enlightened. "It's the ring. Verdandi has an eye for fine jewels," he explained.

"That sounds useful," I rubbed my chin thoughtfully. "Have you tried taking her prospecting? If she's that good at finding them, you might be able to turn a good profit."

Guiche joined me in rubbing his chin. "You know, I've never really thought of that, Sir Emiya," he admitted. "My own family is somewhat down in our financial situation. Perhaps if we started investing in mining…"

"That's fine and wonderful," Louise shouted at us red faced. "But could someone get this thing off me before it eats the princess' ring? It's touching me in uncomfortable places!" She squirmed, trying to get away from the big beast on top of her. The mole seemed to be taking that the same way as Flame did when I was trying to escape, and had begun to grumble happily, enjoying the game it was playing with the little pink haired girl greatly.

I sighed, and prepared myself. "I really hope that it's only reptiles," I muttered to myself, and prepared to expose myself to another potential ambusher.

Luckily, I was saved from the dangerous chore. Whirling out of the early morning mist, a great wind, compressed into a visible dense column came arrowing out of the fog. It struck Verdandi on the side hard enough to lift the heavy beast into the air and send her crashing down a few dozen yards away.

"Well," I declared. "That works too." I moved to help Louise stand even as she and Guiche both started, staring about desperately to determine where the attack came from.

"Who's that?" Guiche declared, looking worried. "Who could be attacking us?"

"My first guess would be that the escort the princess arranged for us has shown up," I commented, though I did keep one hand open at my side, ready to trace. I'd started keeping my hand off Derflinger when preparing for combat. The shine that my runes emitted was simply too noticeable, so I had adjusted my tactics to keep their visibility down before engaging. Maybe it'd be best if I got some gloves or some kind of bandage to wrap them with. Something rough would be helpful for maintaining a good grip on my swords.

"Oh yeah," Guiche and Louise said at the same time, both pounding a fist into an open hand again in comprehension. It looks like they had gotten so wrapped up in the mole drama that they had actually forgotten our party wasn't complete.

A low cry rumbled through the air, and a dark shape descended from above. Eyeing it carefully, ready to draw steel at a moment's notice, I discerned what was coming down on us.

"So that's a griffin," I commented to Louise casually. She just nodded, looking a little awed at its presence. From what I'd heard, being able to summon a griffin as a familiar was a sign of significant power and was a mark of status as great as calling forth a dragon or a manticore. "Well, if that was what I was competing against, I can see why you were so disappointed initially," I commented wryly. She flushed slightly, and sent me an amused look. She'd moved past the point where she regretted having summoned me, but I still liked to tease her with it occasionally.

"Forgive my earlier actions," the rider spoke, sounding elegant and dignified. "I saw a strange creature on my fiancé, and thought she was being attacked."

My eyebrow rose at that. Fiancé? I gave Louise a long look, and she flushed even more. She began to fidget, pushing the tips of her pointer fingers together embarrassedly.

"V-v-v-viscount Wardes," she stuttered shyly. The rider of the griffin jumped down, moving gracefully, and I took the moment to study him. He was sharply dressed, his courtly clothing immaculate beneath his noble's cloak. He had a wide brimmed hat on, with a long white feather stuck in it, and carried a sword at his side. His features were elegant and refined, almost delicate looking, and were offset by a neatly trimmed beard. His hair was long and well cared for.

He also looked dangerous as hell. His body was well muscled, his eyes sharp, and his movements spoke of combat experience.

I found my hand itching towards my blade. I could feel it in my blood, battle with this one would be fantastic.

I refrained from offering to kill him to Louise out of deference to his fiancé status, but it was a close call.

"You're so light, as always, Louise," he greeted my Master enthusiastically, standing before her. My hand kept itching for the blade, though now it was protective instincts rather than selfish desire for battle. Fiancé or not, I might still be called upon to strike him down.

Louise didn't seem to find his presence threatening. Instead she just started blushing harder. "Lord Wardes, please! There are people present," she stammered out, sending bashful looks up at the taller man.

"And who are these people," Wardes sharp eyes turned to myself and Guiche. Guiche gulped a bit under his impressive stare, but didn't react beyond that. It looks like exposure to my own glare seemed to have toughened him up a bit against intimidation. I simply cocked my head to the side, and returned the fierce look with a blank one of my own.

"That is Guiche de Gramont, and my Servant, Shirou Emiya," Louise introduced the two of us, gesturing to each of us in turn. I nodded briefly, and Guiche looked like he was fighting the urge to duck his head in deference.

"Servant?" Wardes asked, intrigued by the term. "Meaning a porter or such?"

"Servant is the title given to what you would call a human familiar," I supplied for him. Louise looked too shy and intimidated by the big man's presence to speak up herself.

"I've never heard of a human being summoned," Wardes said, his voice tinged with curiosity. "How is it that there is a title for such a thing?"

"My own homeland is a bit more familiar with the practice," I explained. The two of us were eyeing the other carefully, taking stock of the figure in front of us. I found myself hoping that he'd take offense to my presence near his fiancé and challenge me. I had a feeling it would be a duel on a whole other level then the one I had with Guiche. "Though there was some confusion initially, my Master has quickly learned the etiquette of the situation, and even now performs admirably in her role."

"Is that so?" Wardes said, glancing fondly at the pink haired girl at his side. She looked away quickly. "Well then, thank you for taking good care of my fiancé."

"You're welcome," I nodded my head in a brief bow. "It has been an honor to serve under her. I ask of you, please take good care of my Master as well."

Wardes laughed out loud at that. "Such modesty as well, coming from the one who captured Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt. Truly, you are a loyal Servant indeed!"

My body instantly tensed. Through great effort, I kept it from showing on my face. "Thank you, Viscount," I said smiling politely.

As the griffin knight picked up his fiancé and carried the squirming girl to ride with him on the griffin, Derflinger spoke up quietly on my back.

"What's wrong, partner?" it asked. "You went tense as a strung bow just a second ago."

"Maybe nothing," I said, my eyes tracking Wardes intently. "Maybe nothing at all."

*Scene Break*

"Ah," Guiche proclaimed, sounding awed. "For a captain of one of the elite squads, the griffin knights, to be leading us," he sighed dramatically, once more posing with an open hand at his chest as though to demonstrate how the excitement had set his heart to racing, "how inspirational!"

"Certainly," I acknowledged, having relaxed a bit. We had been riding for some time now, and I was starting to hate horses. Apparently, all the movies that had samurai and cowboys riding around for hours on end failed to mention just how painful the experience could be. Even Guiche was looking tired, and he had far more experience on horseback then I did. Apparently, you need a few good rides to build up the appropriate calluses and endurance for the way being on a bouncing animal rubbed you raw. I was going to be walking bow legged after this much time on a saddle.

"Oh," Guiche said, looking slyly over at me. "You seem to be a bit reserved, Sir Emiya. Could it be that you are uncertain in your skill in comparison to Sir Wardes?" It seemed that despite the admiration my own defeat had instilled in him, he believed that I, as a simple swordsman, wouldn't be able to compare to a true magic knight.

"Possibly," I acknowledged freely. So far all I had seen of the magic of this world was a few schoolyard squabbles and a thief that had been more eager to run that actually confront me. I had no idea how someone who truly trained to blend sword craft and mage craft together would compare. Despite my earlier misgivings, I found my urge to fight the man in front of me growing once more.

"To so freely admit such a thing?" Guiche asked, seemingly startled at my willingness to admit that the man in front of me might be my superior in battle. "Have you no pride as a swordsman?"

"No matter how strong you are, there's always someone stronger. No matter how fast you are, there's always someone faster. And no matter how good you are, there's always someone better," I admitted freely. I found myself struggling to contain a fierce grin. "It's almost a shame that the two of us probably won't end up crossing blades," I continued, and my disappointment was apparent to Guiche, who raised an eyebrow in curiosity at my tone. "I would love to see just how I compare to one of this land's elite."

"It seems strange," he admitted, sounding confused. "That you are so willing to acknowledge his strength, and yet still so eager to fight against him."

"You might find yourself feeling this way too, someday," I told him. "After you've spent countless hours honing your ability, and shed countless gallons of blood, sweat, and tears to get where you are, you'll start finding yourself feeling proud of your accomplishments. You'll start wondering how all your efforts and hard work compare to that of others." My eyes turned back to Wardes' back. I caught Louise glancing back at me, and I smiled reassuringly at her. She had looked nervous when she had checked up on me, but my confidence and good nature seemed to put her at ease.

"I think," Guiche began, for once not sounding flamboyant. "I think I see what you're saying. If I had been through many of your lessons like yesterday, perhaps I too would want to see the results of my hardship." Still, he persisted. "And what do you think of seeing Louise so close to another man?" he needled me unsubtly.

"Louise is my Master, first and foremost," I reminded him. "That doesn't mean romance by any stretch of the word. Besides, I already have a woman. Why should I begrudge my Master a chance to have a man?" I pointed out. Guiche seemed a little put off by my complete lack of jealousy in this situation.

"And what do you think of Sir Wardes," he finally asked. I had that answer almost instantly.

"He's a pretty boy," I declare firmly.

"A pretty boy? As in a young man fair of features?" Guiche seemed honestly confused by my wording. It must be some difference in our cultures, or maybe the translation spell simply didn't have the appropriate counterpart in his language, so I explained.

"A pretty boy is a man who is generally either very delicate, or has good looking features," I explain to him. Continuing, I held up two fingers. "Generally, pretty boys come in two different classes." I tucked one finger down. "Either they're like you, a narcissistic self absorbed fop who spends all their time trying to be a ladies men," Guiche squawked at my blunt assessment of him and I tucked the second finger down, continuing. "Or they've spent all their time honing their skills, usually in order to either prove that they're more than just a pretty face or to be able to fight off all the jealous lovers of the girls they've wooed. The second kind of pretty boy tends to be pretty badass."

"Badass?" Guiche said, trying to digest both my blunt assessment and my strange terminology.

"Badass," I confirmed. "Someone of such great skill that they become so amazing that even other skilled fighters would go out of their way to avoid provoking them."

"Ah," Guiche said, and gave a quick glance at Wardes too. "I take it that you feel Sir Wardes is in the second category of 'pretty boy'?" he concluded, looking as though he found my description to be both accurate and useful.

"That's the feeling that I'm getting," I nodded. My fingers itched for a blade.

*Scene Break*

"We shall stay here for the night and depart tomorrow at dusk," Wardes declared, moving to dismount his gigantic griffin steed, and assisting Louise in the same.

"Yes, Mr. Wardes," Guiche instantly replied dutifully. Ever since we had arrived at the port town of La Rochelle, he had been regaling me with details of the architecture. It seemed as though each house we passed had been carved out of a single boulder through the use of earth magic. Seeing as earth magic was Guiche's own specialty, he was inordinately proud of the accomplishments. From his explanation it seemed that to so accurately sculpt each building was the work of a square class mage, and was considered a trade all by itself. I had been intrigued by such a mundane use for magic, and had responded positively, asking for details as we traveled. Guiche had been happy to provide.

It seemed that after spending some time with me in a role other than combatant, he had started to warm up to me as a person. Coincidentally, the more we talked the less Shinji-like he became, and I found myself warming up as well.

Addressing Wardes, I spoke as well. "I'll handle the baggage if you take care of the rooms," I offered. He nodded, and turned to go. "I have a request for the rooming, though," I continued. "In order to be on hand during the night, I'll need to either be in the same room as my Master, or in one that is adjoining." I said it as shamelessly as my Servant ever did.

"Shirou," Louise gaped at me, blushing and darting her eyes to her fiancé, appalled at my request. Wardes seemed troubled by it too, uncertain at the idea of having another man so close to his fiancé.

"I've told you in the past," I reminded her bluntly. There should be no room for misunderstanding here. "Though I am a human, I'm also a Servant. I should be regarded as nothing more than a weapon or a tool, much like you would any other kind of familiar. This is a potentially dangerous mission, and if I were to fail to be able to protect you due to something as simple as where I sleep, then I would be a failure as a Servant."

"Sir Emiya," Guiche stuttered wide eyed at my declaration. So far only Siesta and Louise had heard me speak in such a manner. The absolute surety with which I spoke of my role seemed to take both Guiche and Wardes aback.

Then, Wardes smiled. It spread into a grin and he threw his head back and laughed. "What loyalty indeed!" he managed to get out between guffaws. "Very well then, noble Servant," he acknowledged. "I shall see to it that you're room is placed next to your Master's." Still chuckling, he turned and entered the building. Guiche gave me a troubled look, and turned to follow, not so much out of any desire to help the Viscount, but more so in order to get out of having to help me with the bags. Only Louise stayed behind.

She looked troubled, and opened her mouth several times as though trying to say something, but then closed it, seeming unable to determine just what it is she wished to say.

"What is it, Louise?" I asked her encouragingly as I started to unload the horses. It was the first time since Wardes had shown up that I addressed her familiarly.

"It was arranged," she finally blurted out her declaration quickly. Catching herself, she continued. "It was an arranged marriage, made between our families."

"And how do you feel about it?" I asked, getting the feeling that she was angling for something particular here. I paused in my unloading and leaned back on the railing. The hostel we were staying at was on a cliff face. The whole town was built into a mountain, which led me to be slightly confused as to why it was considered a port town, but I figured everyone else seemed to know what was going on, so I shouldn't be worried about it.

Louise wrapped her arms around her waist, glancing away uncomfortably. "I don't know," she admitted. "Viscount Wardes is a strong knight, and a noble of good repute."

I patted the railing at my side in invitation. "Then are you happy to have someone like him as a fiancé?" I asked. Louise took my invitation and leaned besides me. We both turned to stare out over the town as it spread beneath us. The sun was setting, bathing the entire mountain in a glowing red light.

"I don't know," she repeated, and seemed ashamed by the fact. Looking at me out of the corner of her eye, she spoke in a soft voice. "What do you think, Shirou?"

"I think that by the standards of my homeland the age difference is a bit great, and that the concept of arranged marriage is a little distasteful to me," I admitted. "But this isn't my homeland. The impression I got is that this kind of thing is quite common in these parts. But it seems to me that you had something specific in mind." I encouraged again. I'm not the best at reading between the lines when it comes to people, so if she wanted more she'd have to say more.

"It's just," she started and grimaced, "marriage. I'm uncertain if I'm, well," she trailed off again.

"You don't know if you're ready for it?" I supplied. She nodded, grateful that she didn't have to say it herself.

"I'd been preparing myself for it," she admitted. She looked over the scenery, and her eyes were far away. "When I was growing up, I had no talent for magic, so my family started to try and groom me for marriage instead. I," she flushed, "I didn't have much talent for that either," she admitted.

I think I began to see where she was going with this. "But now you've discovered that maybe you do have some talent with magic. Some real impressive talent at that. You don't want to be locked down in a marriage while you're still discovering your own skill," I half asked, half supplied. She nodded gratefully, relieved I had managed to explain what she was having trouble putting into words. I cocked my head to the side and continued the train of thought. "And you don't want to anger your family or embarrass Wardes by calling the whole thing off so suddenly, so you don't know whether you should go along with it, or strike your own path."

"Yes," she nearly sobbed, glad that I had managed to understand her feelings. I regarded her for a second and then spoke again.

"I could kill him for you," I offered directly.

"What!" Louise shrieked. "No killing my fiancé!" she declared instantly. And then she saw the wry half grin on my face and she gaped at me. "You're teasing me!" she declared, harrumphing angrily and beginning to swat me upside the head with her tiny open hands. The height distance was such that she had to jump up to do it, and I laughed at her.

"Peace, peace! Forgive your humble Servant, Master," I begged. She harrumphed again, and turned her head as though angry, but I caught sight of her smiling herself. I continued on the topic from before. "Louise, I am your Servant. I will support you no matter what you do. If you choose to abandon your family's will and call off the wedding, then I will aid you in any way you need me too."

"And if I do get married?" she asked, looking at me out of the corner of my eye.

"You've supported my own relationship while Kirche has had her eyes on me," I reminded her. "Why should I do anything different?"

She seemed to relax a bit at that. "Thank you, Servant," she said quietly.

"You're welcome, Master," I answered just as softly.

"Well then," she declared, seeming to shake off her doubts. "I was going to offer to assist you with the baggage, but since you seem to think so highly of yourself as to tease your Master, then you can do it yourself," she pointed imperiously at me, regaining the fire that had been dwindling the whole day.

"Aye, aye," I rolled my eyes at her, turning back to the baggage. "Truly, my Master is most terrible."

Both of us pretended not to notice as we grinned behind the other's backs.

*Scene Break*

"It's just like you, Louise, to summon a human," Wardes chuckled into his cup of wine. Beside him, Louise flushed in embarrassment.

"It is certainly not the usual type of a familiar," she stammered, embarrassed at being called on something so strange by someone she was so uncertain about. "But my Servant has proven himself a useful and dedicated familiar, so then…"

"I'm not saying that to be cynical," Wardes said earnestly. "It truly is an amazing thing."

Across from him sat Guiche and I. Guiche seemed content to focus on his food, paying only the barest of attention to the conversation. I ate as well, but made sure to follow the interaction between Wardes and Louise. This was an important meeting for her, and I still wasn't certain about the man himself.

Still, it was nice for someone to be impressed by me initially instead of having to work my way up there bit by bit.

Wardes turned to the two of us fully. "Is it true that the two of you dueled?"

Once more, my body went tense, so I did my best to hide it. Beside me, Guiche choked a bit on his food at having been addressed so suddenly by someone he respected immensely, and about a topic that had been so traumatizing to him.

"Ah, yes," he finally managed to get out. "It was, that is," he stumbled, trying to find some way to spin the one sided confrontation in such a way that wouldn't be a complete embarrassment to himself.

Wardes continued, now regarding me solely, curiosity etched on his face. "Is it also true that you used the Staff of Destruction itself to capture Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt?"

Damn it. "Yes," I said calmly, not showing what I was feeling. "You're very well informed," I offered, watching him carefully.

"Well," he said modestly. "Because of my position in court, I receive all kinds of information."

That's true. And since it regarded his fiancé, he might actually have gone out of his way to gather it.

"I would certainly like to have a match with you, perhaps tomorrow before the ship arrives," he offered. At this, Louise started.

"That won't be necessary," she interjected, glancing between the two of us fearfully. I could tell she wasn't sure which of the two of us she was worried about. On one hand, the captain of the griffin knights was a powerful and experienced fighter. On the other hand, a Gandalfr with an arsenal of hundreds of legendary blades wasn't exactly a push over either.

"I think that sounds like a fine idea," I said instantly. Even if it was just a spar, the itch in my hand intensified at the thought to have a legitimate excuse to cross blades with the man in front of me.

"But," Louise started desperately her head rubber necking between the two of us. "This mission is very important, and if either of you were to get hurt," she tried to make an excuse to get the both of us to stop.

"Don't worry," Wardes smiled gently at the pink haired girl. "I'll be sure to hold back."

That seemed to mollify Louise, and she turned to me. I casually sipped my wine, glancing up at the ceiling, trying to look innocent. Louise's eyes narrowed to a glare, and she kicked me under the table. With a sigh, I spoke up, "I'll also hold back." Wardes seemed amused that I would say something like that, but when he noticed both Louise and Guiche, who had gone stiff as a board and started edging away from me, sigh in relief, he started to look a little worried.

"Is something matter?" he asked, looking confused by the byplay between the three of us.

Guiche spoke up, rubbing his neck nervously as he did so. "It's just, Mr. Wardes, that well, Sir Emiya can get a little enthusiastic when it comes to sword play," he finally explained.

"Ah," he said slowly, and despite the nervousness of the others, he began to look as excited by the thought as I felt. Despite the situation, the both of us caught the other trying to conceal a smile, and then we both exchanged grins openly. Good. He felt it too. His own hand seemed to twitch on the table, as though he was longing to reach for the sword on his belt.

"What is it with men and duels?" Louise grumbled, having noted that the eagerness to fight seemed to be shared by the both of us.

Though Wardes looked embarrassed by the question, I had an answer ready. "When men are trying to measure other men's worth, we typically use violence as an initial stepping stone. It's kind of like the way women use dresses and catty dialogue to do the same."

Louise flushed at the comparison between our genders, and Wardes looked honestly shocked at the thought, before he once more descended into helpless laughter.

"Indeed," he finally admitted through his diminishing chuckles. With a smile still on his face, he stood, and reached a hand to Louise. "Well then, shall we retire for the night?"

"But, Lord Wardes," Louise stammered blushing redder then her hair. "W-w-we're not married yet! We can't…"

"It's alright," he assured her. "We are fiancés after all."

"But…" she trailed off, glancing at me helplessly. It seemed my Master was weak to attack types.

"Viscount," I spoke up, and he looked over to find me being very serious. "I trust you to be an honorable gentleman to my Master," I began, first assuring him of my intention not to specifically interfere. "Please, understand, that I shall be right next to the two of yours room. If my Master wishes to decline any advances, please respect her wishes." Louise seemed grateful at my warning, and Wardes looked trapped by my warning, backed by my flattery meant to force him into keeping his word. I then continued, casually sipping my wine cup. "However, you two are fiancés, as you said, so if she accepts any advances, please remember that I will be in the room right next to you two, and try to keep the noise down…"

I had intended to go on a bit more, but Louise shut me up by grabbing a loaf of bread and shoving it into my mouth, face again redder then her hair. She then stalked off, fists clenched and her back arched like a cat once more. Wardes stared at the scene in disbelief, before once more breaking into chuckles and following after my Master.

As Guiche moved off, having caught sight of a particularly flirtatious barmaid and being unable to resist the siren call of his pretty boy skirt chaser nature, I removed the bread from my mouth.

With my eyes narrowed, I sat still, not eating, not drinking, not moving.

"What is it, partner?" Derflinger asked. "Again, just now, you went tighter then a drawn bow."

"I'm still not certain," I replied, and said nothing more.

*Scene Break*

"Shall we begin then?" the Viscount asked me. His voice sounded eager.

The two of us stood in an empty courtyard. Wardes had drawn his sword, and had it planted in front of him, both hands on the hilt in a resting position. The weapon he used was a strange one, and my eye lingered on it even as he spoke.

"Yes," I said simply. In my own hand was a wrapped bundle that I had prepared earlier. Since this was to be a simple spar, I had traced Torashinai again, and then covered it with a cloth just to ensure that it would remain obscured. I didn't want to trace in front of my opponent, just as I didn't want to use a real weapon and expose my glowing runes.

It was partially my natural reticence about displaying my ability, and partially the growing concern I had over the man in front of me.

"Being a noble is a burden," Wardes went on, "one can't help but wonder if they are stronger or weaker than the ones around them." At the side of the duel, resting above eye level on the stairs that led out of the courtyard and onto a large wall overlooking the city, Guiche started. Beside him Louise, who was still looking uncertain about whether or not she should try and stop this duel, glanced at him curiously. Guiche was staring at Wardes, remembering my own words yesterday, and the sentiment they expressed that was so perfectly matched here.

"Being a Servant is much the same," I admitted, trying to hold back a fierce grin and mostly succeeding. An answering grin appeared to be struggling on my opponents face. I unwrapped the practice sword in my hand, and Louise let out an audible sigh of relief that I wasn't going to use steel. Amusingly enough, Guiches sudden whimper at the sight of the horrific weapon was equally audible.

"Will you not be using the sword on your back?" Wardes asked, aggrieved. It must look like I was attempting to look down on him.

"This is appropriate," I returned surely. "Your own weapon lacks edge or point. You probably use it mainly as a wand in combat, and when you require cutting or piercing you have a spell to allow it to do so, right?" I analyzed calmly, and Wardes jerked back as though shocked at the perceptiveness of my analysis. Guiche too seemed surprised, turning to glance at the sword in Wardes' hand, seeing it matched my description. Louise didn't bother. She'd already come to trust my judgment. "In such a case, the onus will be on you to tone down your magic to an appropriate level. This ensures that I will be equally handicapped."

The grin on his face returned, wider. "Very well. First blood?" he asked, setting the ending condition for the duel.

"I'd prefer fatal attack," I offered. If the two of us were taking each other's measure, I'd prefer the duel not get cut short by a potential lucky strike. They happen in combat after all.

"Very well then," Wardes agreed, and then the two of us moved.

I had decided to limit myself in this spar, refraining from drawing on Gandalfr's power and limiting my reinforcement. With my natural speed, I closed fast. When I was within striking range, rather than a conventional attack, I leaned so far forward that I literally fell over. The tactic threw me under Wardes' blade, who had answered my charge with a straightforward thrust designed to force me to halt my charge and to test my defenses. With a huge step to catch my fall I got my leg underneath me and the practice sword in my hand arched up, a long sweeping vertical attack that would have cut him groin to shoulder if it had been steel and connected. He pivoted, his body moving to the side of my blade, but I had already set myself up for the second step of my attack.

Now inside his guard, where his sword would have trouble reaching me and his magic would be mostly useless, I stood up, spinning so that my back was to him and drove the sword backwards, under my own armpit in a blind stab at his chest. Wardes was forced to spring to the side in order to dodge my thrust, and then I unleashed the third step of my combo.

With the sword under my arm and my feet together, I was in a classic iiado stance, a style that emphasized the drawing and simultaneous striking of a blade. Simulating the drawing cut of a katana, I stepped hard, pivoting myself as I did so and drawing the practice sword in a screaming crescent, a technique that would cut a man in two if they were unprepared and I had real steel.

Wardes blocked it, but the sheer power of my swing forced him to leap backwards in order to avoid being knocked down.

We both paused. The onslaught had lasted no more than a handful of seconds, but the two of us found ourselves breathing hard from the tension. An audible gasp came from our onlookers.

"Fantastic," Wardes praised unashamedly. "Your three strikes were unconventional, and the fastest I've ever seen unaided by magic. The combination was effective, and the way you peerlessly maneuvered me into the final attack was masterful."

"Thank you," I accepted with a nod. "Your own reflexes were superb. Though I rarely get a chance to use this series, seeing as it requires open space, flat ground, and that the opponent carry a weapon that would not endanger me at such a range, on the few times I have used them they have not yet been defeated before today."

"Thank you as well," he nodded back. "Very well then, shall I take the initiative now?"

"Please," I offered. "I look forward to seeing your skill on the offense."

Without another word, it was my turn to dodge. He utilized a lightning fast series of thrusts. Though the weapon itself wouldn't penetrate my flesh if it struck, it would be enough to bruise and hamper my abilities if it hit. He aimed mercilessly at the weakest points of my body: my neck, my eyes, my diaphragm, and my kidneys. Any hit at these areas caused disproportionate pain to the body, and a strong enough blow could prove lethal on its own. In order to successfully parry his blows without the use of reinforcement, I had to grasp the other end of the practice sword and speed up the movement of the tip in order to successfully have my blade stop his. A thrusting attack is much faster than a swinging attack due to the distance the swinging arm has to travel in order to launch it. Even blocking with both tip and hilt of my blade, using both hands to maneuver, I was still hard pressed.

The real attack was still coming though. Even as he kept me on the defensive, he began his chant. It was the first time I witnessed magic being done in the midst of movement. While he pressed me he used the time he bought himself to complete his incantation. "Breaking Wind," he declared, and from the tip of his sword wand emitted a powerful gust. It was the same as the one that had struck Verdandi the day before, though reduced slightly in strength.

I had anticipated something like this. It was the most obvious method of attack, considering what I've seen of his style. By forcing the opponent on the defense through direct attacks, the opponent would be unable to dodge, while the entire time the emitting end of the wand was faced directly at the opponent.

The only way to dodge this would be by not standing in front of the sword. It was like fighting against a gun.

Though I tried to avoid it, with my self-limitation on reinforcement and without the power of Gandalfr flowing through me, the attack was simply too coordinated. I was caught hard in the side and sent flying backwards across the courtyard, slamming into a small pile of barrels.

"Sir Emiya," Guiche called out, worried at my defeat. Louise just watched.

I started shrugging my way out of the wreckage. "I assume that would have been a lethal attack at full power?" I simply said, showing no discouragement or distaste at my defeat, only displaying simple curiosity.

"Indeed," Wardes said, showing no distaste or scorn. In fact he looked almost regretful. "Shirou Emiya," he said to me, for the first time addressing me by my full name. "You must realize, that at your level, without magic, you won't be able to protect Louise?"

And there it was. My body didn't tighten this time, but I had to hold back a sigh of regret. "Perhaps," I simply said. I met Louise's gaze. She didn't make a reaction. She knew just how much I too had been holding back in that battle. She seemed apologetic, as though regretful that she had made me promise to do so. She must be worrying about my pride. Guiche looked like he was split down the middle on how to react to what he saw as my loss. On one hand, he looked like he had expected me to fail, seeing as how in his eyes I was simply a swordsman, a skilled one but a swordsman none the less. On the other hand, he clearly remembered my own attack, and knew that just like before, even a simple swordsman would have been enough to finish him off handily.

Judging by the fire in his eyes, I think he'd just kindled his own resolution to grow stronger.

"If you don't mind," I said, my head bowed so that my hair would hide my eyes, "I think I'd like to take some time to compose myself."

"Of course," Wardes agreed. He looked like he too was finding the ending of our spar unsatisfying. He knew we were both holding back, and even now was wondering just how the duel would have been effected if neither of us had been.

With a brief glance at my Master, who gave me a nod of approval at my request, I turned and walked away.

*Scene Break*

"Well, partner," Derflinger finally broke the silence. It was growing towards the latter half of the afternoon, and it would soon be time for me to return to the others so we could catch the ship. The flying ship. As in an actual boat with sails that apparently managed to float. I couldn't imagine just how they managed to use sails on a ship like that for propulsion without flipping over mid air. Derflinger continued. "So what's really bothering you? We both know you won that spar."

"Aye," I admitted. Of those present, only Guiche and Wardes had no idea just how much I had held back in that conflict.

"Then what's really got you down?" the sword asked. It didn't sound like it was trying to cheer me up, or really displaying any emotion or worry at all. It was a sword, and no matter how intelligent it was, there were some things it just didn't understand, emotions high amongst them.

"Well," I admitted, "It's just that I'm growing more and more certain that I'm going to end up having to widow Louise."

"Oh? You're not the type for jealousy," it pointed out, not concerned at all with my declaration that I was probably going to have to kill one of the few people I'd met since coming here that I found myself honestly respecting. "This about what's been bothering you?"

"Yes," I admit. "It's nothing concrete, but there's enough small stuff there to set me on edge." Honestly, it was so subtle that I probably wouldn't have noticed at all if it wasn't for the fact that we'd already been betrayed once. Since Fouquet, I'd made it a point to start trying to pay attention for tell tale signs. If I had been paying more attention then, I might have been able to avoid some dangerous situations. And now my attention seemed to be yielding rewards all ready.

We were interrupted by a shout from behind us. "Sir Emiya," Guiche called out, jogging up towards the blade and I, looking vaguely out of breath. When he caught up, he put both his hands on his knees, panting slightly. Like most of the nobles I'd come across so far, he didn't seem to keen on physical fitness. "Sir Emiya," he began. Whatever was he was about to say was lost to the ages, as at that moment I had to pull him out of the way of an enormous eight ton rock fist.

A familiar fist. Even as Guiche gawked at this near death experience, I found myself growling. "You again."

"Good evening, Gandalfr," a voice echoed from the golem that was even now still forming in front of us. It seemed that Fouquet had learned a few lessons from the last time we had met. She had attacked without warning or mercy, seeking to end the battle conclusively before I would have proper time to respond. I only caught the briefest of glimpses of her, perched on the shoulder of the golem before the second lesson she learned was brought into play. Rather than simply standing in the open, she crafted herself within the golem itself. With the armor of a couple tons of rock between her, she was no doubt relying on me not being able to attack her directly in order to preserve her life this time.

This was why I hated the ones that got away.

With two massive swings of its gigantic arms, it slammed into the cliff face above the path on either side of us leading up to the plaza myself and the now trembling Guiche stood on. That didn't make sense. Fouquet knews of my capabilities. Trying to engineer an inescapable confrontation wouldn't be her style. She wouldn't want to face me without an exit route.

Ah. Then this wasn't about vengeance. My face twisted. This was the final straw.

That meant I wouldn't have time to play around with the dead woman in front of me.

Even as the golem reared back to deliver a punishing strike on me, I had chosen the blade I would need for this encounter. It wasn't one I commonly used, but in this limited field, the advantages were all Fouquet's. There would be nearly no room to maneuver in, and every strike would tear up the plaza, making the footing more and more unsure as time went on. Add to that the trembling and mostly useless Guiche behind me, and I would have to go for a fast and overwhelming first strike.

However, before I could begin my trace, the golem in front of me sprouted fire all over its face.

A quick glance up was the only thing that saved me from an extremely affectionate, but highly ill timed hug by a ton of trilling happy dragon as Sylphid attempted to dive bomb cuddle me. Before I had time to properly right myself, Kirche, displaying a speed which surpassed anything I'd seen from her so far was directly in front of me, grabbing both my hands and staring me straight in the eyes.

"Quick!" she said, unexpectedly urgent and with intent I hadn't seen displayed from her before. "Where's that dandy looking gentleman that was all over Lousie! I must rescue him from her evil ways. It is for the sake of love!"

Despite the inappropriateness of the moment, I couldn't help but deadpan. "Truly, your devotion to your passion is epic in scale, and as resolute as the mountains themselves."

Kirche seemed to realize that I also was one of the targets for her 'love', which had apparently been driven from her mind when faced with the sheer pretty boy charm that Wardes projected. The hand she had been clasping with both of hers was suddenly pressed against her bosom, and she flushed at my touch, even if it was unwilling. "Are you jealous?" she asked, sounding pleased by the perceived emotion. "Don't worry," she whispered in a sultry tone. "The night is long. There is enough time for both of you…"

"Okay, that's it," I declared, pulling my hand free. "I have to take care of this," I gestured at the golem which had shaken itself free of the flames, "first, and then we can discuss just why that's not going to happen, okay?"

"Oh?" Kirche seemed to notice the golem for the first time since her arrival. "Doesn't that belong to that one over the hill lady?"

"I'm not over the hill!" Fouquet's voice echoed from the gaping chasm of the golem's mouth. Apparently even inside the armor of stone she was able to perceive her surroundings appropriately. "I'm only twenty!"

"Seriously," I interrupted. "No more wasting time." Firmly fixing the objective in mind, determined not to be distracted again, I chanted, "I am the bone of my sword. Steel is my body, and fire is my blood."

Trace on.

The blade, if it could be called that, which formed in my hand was massive. Composed entirely of granite that had been chipped away at the edges to form a crude and primitive edge, the entire blade was nearly as long as I was tall. The handle, just a crude indentation at one end that had been wrapped with cloth to protect the hands from the sharpness of the chiseling, was meant for larger hands than mine, and it made gripping the immense thing difficult.

It was the axe sword that had once been wielded against me by the spirit of Hercules, rendered impossibly strong by the class of Berserker. It had no name, having been carved from the column of his tomb that had been used for the reagent of his summoning. But even though its age was probably less than mine, even having just been wielded by the Heroic Spirit had imparted upon it the status of Noble Phantasm.

And it was the skill that had been impressed upon it that I now called upon.

There was a reason I didn't use this blade casually. Besides the massive size rendering it impractical and sheer overkill against most of my opponents, the sheer weight of it was such that using simple reinforcement only let me wield it with sub-par speed and strength. But now, with the power of Gandalfr, my body was able to bear its burden with enough skill and speed to make it a viable addition to my arsenal. But even without that addition to my strength, I had called upon it a few times in the pass to make use of its ability as a Noble Phantasm.

"Shooting Hundred Heads," I declared naming the special ability of the Phantasm. The 'Shooting Hundred Heads' technique imparted upon the blade called upon the od of the user to power the weapon into making a series of perfectly aimed fatal strikes. Due to the sheer speed that weapon attacks at, they were nearly simultaneous, and almost impossible to dodge or block. The number of strikes depend on the amount of power the wielder is able to support the weapon with. The most I could manage was nine, and that much would leave me heavily drained of od.

The massive golem in front of me was struck on the area of its body that would have been the heart, the neck, the liver, the kidneys, the right femoral vein, the left femoral vein, the right lung at the true ribs, and the left lung at the true ribs at speeds that even the fastest of humans wouldn't have been able to protect against, much less a cumbersome thing like itself.

The wide spread damage that the massive sword axe in my hand did was enough to overcome even the power of the magic that held it together. The charge that had brought me in to attack had left me mid air, and as I hung I dismissed the cumbersome weapon, and drew Derflinger. Hanging before me as well, surrounded by the debris that had once been her golem and already succumbing to gravity, was Fouquet. For a brief panicked moment, her eyes met mine.

And then we fell. She landed on her back. I landed above her, driving Derflinger deep into her diaphragm, impaling her to the ground.

"Well," she said, the only sound in the plaza besides the clatter of falling rocks, "it looks like I'm not the one who got away anymore." She coughed, and blood dribbled from her chin.

Still mounting her, straddling her waste like a perverse imitation of two lovers, I spoke. "Before you die, I have one question."

She laid still, not bothering to struggle. She had already accepted her fate, had probably been expecting it since she had launched her first strike. "Oh?" she gasped weakly. "What's that? And why should I tell anything to the one who's going to kill me?" she teased me, sounding strangely intimate.

"The one who broke you out of prison and sent you to your death was Viscount Wardes, wasn't it?" I half asked, half declared.

Her eyes widened at the surety of my question. "And what makes you say that?" she asked resignedly.

"The day we met, he specifically declared me the one who captured you. It was the first time anyone admitted that I, as a lowly familiar, was in anyway more responsible for the act than my Master." That had been the first clue, the one that had set me off originally. In this land, the accomplishments of the familiar were the accomplishments of the master. "The second was last night, at the inn. He knew both that I had used the Staff of Destruction specifically against you, and of my duel with Guiche. Both were things that only someone from the school would know the specifics of, and it would be unlikely that any of the faculty would speak too casually of either event. And the third," I leaned back a bit, both hands still on the sword buried in her stomach, her eyes clouded with pain as they met mine, "was this morning. At the duel despite the fact that he should have known very well that I would be a match for most mages, he still attempted to drive me away. When you attacked, after your first strike failed, you made sure to block all the routes away from here. You weren't meant to kill me, just delay me. He wants to be alone with Louise for some reason."

She regarded me silently except for another cough that sprayed blood from her lips. Finally, she spoke. "If I answer your question, will you make me a promise?" I cocked my head, encouraging without agreeing to anything. "In the country of Albion, near the village of Saxe-Gotha is an orphanage. If you find yourself there, tell the one who runs it that Mathilda has found herself a man, and is living happily and peacefully. Will you do so?"

I nodded. It was a simple enough last request.

"Yes, it was the Viscount who released me, on the condition that I would serve the rebels of Albion, the organization called Reconquista." She gave me a tired look. "Though he questioned me briefly on you, he never asked me of anything but your status of Gandalfr. He still does not know that you're magi as well." She laughed harshly, wincing as she did so. "My own little vengeance against him for sending me to my death."

"Thank you," I tell her, though we both know it wasn't necessary. I stood, and gripped Derflinger more tightly. "Are you ready?"

She closed her eyes and nodded once.

I pulled Derflinger free, and with one final swing separated her head from her shoulders. It rolled slightly, and I made sure to stand aside from the spray of blood that accompanied the action that sprung from her neck. Her eyes opened briefly, rested on me, and then closed for good.

I turned back to the onlookers. Guiche had his hand to his neck again, and was looking green. Kirche had bowed her head, looking away. Tabitha was reading, and Sylphid began to poke Fouquet's head with one of her claws. She seemed curious about the way it rolled about.

"First time you've seen someone die?" I asked, my voice distracted and only sounding vaguely curious. I was looking above them, where in the sky I could make out a ship departing, lifting ponderously into the air and wheeling about as it did so. I had been delayed enough, it seemed.

"Yes," Kirche admitted, sounding a bit subdued, but not otherwise affected. "The other duels I've seen all ended with surrender." She glanced up, giving the body one last look, before glancing around at the fallen stones of the golem. "Why didn't you use that attack last time?" she asked, sounding like her curiosity was already starting to pull her out of her solemn move.

"It takes a lot out of me," I admitted.

Guiche was still rubbing his neck, and seemed to be trying to think of anything besides how close he had come to the same fate. "Magi?" he finally settled on. "You're a noble?"

I sighed, and decided I could explain the details to him later.

Turning to Tabitha, the least affected by the scene, I spoke up. "I'm afraid we need to get out of here before someone clears the rubble and finds us with a dead body. Would you mind terribly giving us a lift?"

Tabitha nodded, and whistled quietly to Sylphid, who had been batting Fouquet's head back and forth like a ball. As the dragon lumbered over to her master, I continued addressing the bluette.

"After that, would you mind terribly giving me a ride to a certain location? I seem to need to get to a flying continent in something of a hurry." Glancing over at Guiche, I spoke to him as well. "You're coming too. You and that giant mole of yours."

"Oh course," he stuttered, looking more than a little nervous about just what I'd need his familiar for. I gave one last look to the retreating ship, and then turned to mount Sylphid. There was work to be done.

*Scene Break*

"Good work," I say to the side, without turning my head from my destination.

"It was nothing, for one as talented and graced with beauty and power as I," Guiche accepted modestly.

"I was talking to the Verdandi," I corrected him dryly. The happy giant mole chuffed proudly. It was this little fellow that had allowed me to track down where it was my Master and her fiancé had gone once we reached the flying continent of Albion. It turned out that mole was every bit as good at tracking down jewelry as Guiche had claimed.

Well, I hoped this was where my Master was. There was always the possibility that she had been separated from the ring. Still, the runes were remained on my hand, so I was confident she was still alive.

"Shirou," Kirche begged me desperately, clutching at my sleeve in worry. "You don't have to do this! Think about what's at stake here!" She had gotten down on to her knees in order to beg me to change my course of action.

"There are plenty of other pretty men out there for you to love," I assured her dryly. She sniffled at the thought of losing Wardes, but seemed to acknowledge my statement. Then she started to take advantage of the fact that she was on her knees and nearby me.

I stepped away before she could get any further then rubbing her breasts on my leg.

With a sigh, I turned to the two dependable ones in this little company. "You'll keep these two out of trouble, and keep an eye on the church, won't you Tabitha, Sylphid?" I addressed them both, hoping that at least someone here had their head in the game. Sylphid 'kyuui'ed sternly, nodding her head enthusiastically and raising a paw into the air as though to say 'you can count on me, big brother!'. Tabitha gave a briefer nod, and then turned a page of her book.

With the assurance that someone out here would be responsible, I turned and made my way to the door of the church we had landed in front of.

Moving stealthily to avoid an potential sentinels, I made it to one of the stained glass windows. Peeking in I could make out a number of shapes, but the staining of the glass made it hard for me to verify precisely who was in there and what was going on. I could make out three in particular. One was a tall figure with a wide brimmed hat, standing next to someone who was either Louise or a young child, with a third figure of an indeterminate nature standing in front of them. The third figure seemed to be speaking, and from what my reinforced ears could make out, it sounded like a wedding ceremony.

With a sigh, I decide that the best route to take was the direct one. In all likely hood, this was the prince of Albion that we were supposed to search for in the first place, and if the other two obvious ones were whom I pegged them as, this could be pretty easy. All it would take is Louise confirming my identity, and me presenting the fact that Wardes was one of the rebels that had been hounding the royalty of this land, and we could all walk away nice and happy.

I didn't really believe that for a second. My hand itched for my blade again.

Deciding to be straight forward and hope that it delayed any of the other guards long enough for explanations to be made, I pushed in the door to the church, putting enough pressure for them to strike the walls next to them with an audible thud.

"You know, Viscount," I said loudly. "If you were that concerned about my chiding about you two being honorable, you could have just mentioned it."

"Impossible," Wardes breathed, taken aback that I had not only managed to survive his ambush, but that I had also managed to locate the two of them on a hostile continent. "How did you find this place?"

I ignored him, turning instead to the smartly dressed man that I had deduced was probably the crown prince of Albion. I addressed him politely. "I'm sorry about interrupting your ceremony. I am the Servant of Louise Francoise Lu Blanc de la Valliere. I had been separated from my Master no more than a day ago, and merely seek to find her once more."

The prince, who had been drawing himself to no doubt order all the spears that had been pointed at me since my dramatic entrance to attack, paused. Turning to Louise, he asked her, keeping one eye on me, "Is this true, Louise?"

"Yes," she said, sounding a little distant. I studied her closely. Her eyes were dilated, and her reaction seemed slow. Suddenly, her gaze sharpened. Snatching the little white veil that had been on top of her head, she repeated herself. "Yes, that is my Servant." She turned to glare at Wardes. Even as she opened her mouth to shout something, the taller man cursed, and then shouted.

"Quick, get down!" Spurned by the loud and sudden order, the prince turned to see what could have startled the composed Viscount. In the next second, imitating my own blind thrust from our sparring, Wardes pierced beneath his armpit, driving his suddenly glowing sword directly in to the startled prince's chest.

As the prince fell, and Louise cried out, diving after him to try and help, Wardes turned to face me and the church full of suddenly very angry guards. Even as he did so, I could see his mouth moving as he chanted his magic.

With a grimace, I put my hand to my sword and prepared to summon a defensive phantasm to aid me. As my hand reached Derflinger's hilt, the sword chose that moment to speak up.

"Use me to block his magic," he ordered. Trusting the steel, I abandoned my tracing, and instead drew the sword and placed it in front of me.

Wardes completed his spell, and with a fast swipe a blast of what appeared to be razor sharp wind extended from in front of him conically, striking and cutting person and furniture alike as it tore its way through the the church.

Except for me. When the magic struck, Derflinger began to shine. The blast of air warped around it, and the blade seemed to drink the magic in, fueling the glimmer it emitted.

"So," I said to it casually. "Remembered an old trick?"

"I knew I could do something like that!" it responded happily, seeming content that it finally remembered some of its old traits.

"I told that woman to keep you away," Wardes said, sounding aggrieved at the failure of his subordinate. "That woman. Half-assing it. I shall have to have words with that thief when next we meet." He nearly spit the words out, and I could almost see him composing a severe dressing down for his subordinate when this was all over.

"To be fair, she did give it her best shot. And when you go to visit her, make sure you bring flowers for me," I tell him, my voice bland. "It's a custom in my homeland to lay them on graves."

That brought Wardes up short. "So she's dead." The look he gave me was challenging. "And do you think that you have come here to kill me as well?"

I sighed. "You still seem to not understand my nature yet. I am here simply to follow my Master's orders. If she chooses to side with you, then I shall fight beside you, not against you. If she orders me to simply withdraw, then I shall leave." A cold smile grew on my face. "And if she orders me to kill you, then you will join your subordinate in death. That is why I'm here."

"I underestimated you," Wardes responded. His own smile was growing there too. His sword was still drawn, and held low to the ground in a ready stance. "I must admit, I was hoping for a chance to truly face you. I had three goals, when I arrived here. The first two, killing prince Whales, and recovering princess Henrietta's letter have already been accomplished. The third, acquiring Louise, will have to wait till I deal with you." Sword drawn, he settled himself, an intense look on his face

I regarded him blankly, and then sighed, lowering Derflinger till it rested on the ground, and standing up straight, relaxing.

"What are you doing, swordsman?" he asked, his voice cold at my apparent disrespect.

"Unfortunately, it is my Master's orders which I follow, even if I would love nothing more than to fight and kill you here and now. However, it seems you have truly upset her, and so I must serve as a distraction long enough for her to strike you down herself," I admitted with a shrug.

"Wha-" was as far as Wardes got out before Louise's voice echoed through the church.

"Fireball!" she screamed. We still hadn't corrected her aim properly, though she has improved immensely. Instead of his torso bearing the brunt of the spell, like I had instructed her, Wardes arm instead took the blast. Just like with the golem, the explosion tore its way through his upper arm near his shoulder, severing it in a spray of red gore.

And as he cried out, I moved to finish. Closing in low and fast, this time with all the speed and strength of Gandalfr in me, I raised Derflinger up in a devastating rising blow. Even through his pain, the man was a professional, and managed to dodge my uppercut. He began chanting a spell, even as he knew that he wouldn't be ready by my next attack. His only chance was to have it prepared in time for him to cast it after he blocked my third strike. Even as I stood under his guard, reversing Derflinger till it cut through the air beneath me with the scream of steel, he was moving. He already had his sword across his body, poised to absorb the brunt of my slash and ready to unleash his spell on me the moment he had.

The moment my body stood between him and Derflinger, I dropped it.

Trace on.

The weapon I formed in my hand was Kabutsuchi, a large misshapen and angular ax. It had been used by Anotsu Kagehisa, the blasphemous swordsman who had founded the Ittou-ryuu, a sword school that had been infamous for its motto 'the sword excuses all'. The belief that any tactic was acceptable in combat, so long as it let you win had been a hated concept in a time of strict sword forms and rigorous discipline to tradition. The ax Kabutsuchi, the Head Basher, was a weapon that personified this belief, being so blunt it couldn't cut anything, yet so heavy that the force of its swing could crush through all armor and weapons in its path.

And so Kabutsuchi, swung with the full force of my body, and with the speed and power of my class, shattered Wardes sword, and despite its dullness pulped its way through his body, severing him in two at the waist in a shower of blood and entrails that painted the church side red.

Without a second glance at the gasping dying torso, I went to my Master's side. "Are you well?" I asked her, concerned with the way she wavered on her feet.

"Some kind of magic to control me," she muttered, seeming unsteady. "You're going to have to teach me how to use that magic resistance you mentioned before."

"Of course, Master," I deferred to her, and then put one hand around her waist to steady her. I crouched low so she could get an arm over my taller frame. Before we left the ruined church, Louise took a ring from the prince's hand, pocketing it, and then had me search the shattered remnants of her ex-fiancé for the letter that we had been sent for.

"Still," I said as we made our way to the door and our awaiting allies outside. "At least you finally took me up on my offers to kill."

Despite her unsteadiness, she whopped me upside my head with the arm she had around my shoulder.

*Scene Break*

_As they flew into the night, heading back to Tristain, Louise couldn't help but think about how this whole fiasco had set her off from marriage for a good long time. Somehow, the thought was as much comforting as it was disappointing to her. For all that she truly desired to gain acknowledgment through her magic, there was a part of her that had wondered just how it would have felt to truly have been married. _

_She briefly thought back to when Shirou had teased the two of them in the tavern, and though she still found herself blushing at the implications, she also found herself blushing as she considered just what it would have been like if she had taken Wardes up on his advances that night when they were alone. _

_She knew that he had been a treacherous fiend who had just been trying to use her for her body and her magic, but, well, he was attractive, and Kirche seemed to enjoy those kind of encounters, so maybe…._

_Louise purposefully did not think about kinky threesomes. Her will was strong, and she would not give in to the curiosity!_

_Still, even if she hadn't found herself in the arms of her once fiancé the night before, this night she found herself instead in the arms of her Servant. Still reeling from the shock of the day's events, and somewhat unsteady from the lingering effects of whatever magic had been used to try and coerce her into the marriage, in order to protect her from the chill wind that assaulted them as they flew through the night air on Sylphid's back Shirou had wrapped both arms around her, drawing her into his lap, with his sword clasped at her back, ready to be drawn for any reason if needed._

_Though they were close, the feelings the posture drew up in Louise weren't those of intimacy. As she let herself be guarded, she thought instead of the only other person whose arms she had slept in: her second eldest sister, Cattleya._

_Thinking of the way her Servant looked after her, helped her, protected her, and even teased her, she found herself wondering: is this what it would have been like if she had had a brother?_

_And so, feeling safe, and woozy and tired, and more than a little confused, Louise slept._

_And she dreamed of swords and battle._

_In this dream, perhaps due to her own confusing day, she saw Shirou and his lover standing, facing each other just a short distance away from one another across a beautiful hill. Behind them, no more than a few hundred feet away was the ruin of a battlefield, one that looked like it only had ended recently._

_His lover, still all in blue, but for once without her armor, stood, gazing at Shirou with a peaceful look upon her face. Across from her, Shirou stood. His own look was resolute. There was regret upon his face, but also understanding. He stood as though bracing himself, and she stood as though she wished she could spend all eternity looking upon him._

_She spoke, and Louise could not hear what she said, nor see the shape of the words her mouth made, because the sun had risen behind her, silhouetting her, and in that moment Louise was struck with envy at the grace and beauty of Shirou's lover. _

_And then she was gone._

_And Shirou was alone._


	8. Promised Blades: The Eighth night

The Hill of Swords: The Eighth night

Author's notes: Well, here it is, the next chapter. I had actually planned to get all the way down to the battle of Tardes with this one, but since it ran so long, I decided to just split the chapters. Let's see, important little tidbits.

First off, since so many readers kept bringing up Saber's draconian influence as a reason for Shirou's sudden reptile affection, and since it didn't really interfere with my plans for the story, I decided to go ahead and throw it in! And then I realized I had no way for Shirou to know about that, and no way for any of the reptiles to be able to attribute their strange draw to Shirou as caused by his boinking Arturia, and thus, the idea fell dead in the water. However, rejoice! It's now official, if only out here beyond the fourth wall!

Second I have decided that even if I grow tired and bored of the story itself, writing Sylphid/Irukukuu scenes is just so darn fun that I wouldn't be able to stop even if I wanted to. Hehehe. Seriously. It's just so great!

Third, a good bit more of this chapter came from the cave scene then I intended. I'm sure I'm going to upset a great deal of those who religiously follow the intricate workings of the F/sn world by not being nearly as accurate as you want me to, but hey, sorry, I'm not perfect. Still, I had fun writing about the fifth true magic. I'm sure most people won't get the reference, but it still was amusing to me to write.

And fourth, and finally: Baby fat. I know it's sick and morbid of me, but I just kept giggling while writing that scene.

On with the chapter!

*Story Start*

"Alright," Louise began, chewing on a lock of her hair as she stared down at the blank page in front of her while sitting on a stump. "When the wind blows, the barrel makers get rich. What do you think?"

"This is supposed to be for a wedding, isn't it? Too bleak," I reject it. Louise pursed her lips, and then nodded regretfully.

"Well, how about this one? Fire in the heart sends smoke to the head," she proposed.

"Well, as much as some people here personify that one in particular," I glanced across the clearing at where I knew Kirche was. "It's also has bad marriage connotations."

"Hmmm. You might be right about that. Well, here's one: cheat the earth and the earth will cheat you."

"Well, it's about earth all right," I muttered, scratching my chin. "But I think that's more a general environment thing rather than the earth element."

"Grrr." Louise let out a growl as she started to pull at her hair. "Good rain, like a bad preacher, doesn't know when to leave off?" she tried finally.

"Not a good idea to insult the minister." I paused and then pointed out. "Orc."

Still staring at the little book in front of her, Louise raised her wand, pointed at the charging creature that resembled a fat pig mixed with an ugly man, and incanted, "Fireball."

The creature promptly exploded.

"Very nice," I praised her. "Your aim has definitely improved, and you've managed to get decent power without a chant."

"Well," she admitted, now using her wand to scratch her head as she pondered the little book in front of her. "This little vacation has been a good chance to practice."

"True," I agreed, and then used the massive halberd I'd traced to split another orc in two at nearly eight feet away. I'd taken to choosing a new exotic weapon for each encounter and using it exclusively till I got a general feel for the way the runes made me move.

"That's amazing, Shirou, Miss Valliere!" Siesta proclaimed from where she was standing beside us. On the other side of her Flame croaked happily, and then launched a ball of fire at a would be ambusher, the kinetic force of the blast knocking the large piggish thing back even as the intense flame charred its flesh black and peeled it from its bone.

Louise didn't pay much attention to the small hoard of pillaging creatures as me and Flame continued to slaughter them in a fashion much like killing ugly pigs. Ten days after the return to Tristain upon our successful completion of the mission given her by princess Henrietta, Louise had received word that she had been selected to be the princess' bridesmaid at the wedding to cement the alliance between Germania and Tristain. It was customary for the bridesmaid to carry the small book she was even now staring at, apparently a holy artifact called 'the Founder's Prayer Book', while writing an official blessing praising each of the four elements of magic.

It hadn't taken long for the both of us to realize that Louise was about as good at composing as she had been at magic and continued to be at knitting: Zero.

After three days of hair pulling frustration, Kirche had finally approached us with a suggestion. Well, she had approached me with a suggestion: treasure hunting. She had explained that in Germania, if one had enough wealth then unlike in Tristain, where nobility had to have magic, in Germania anyone could become a noble. And after I was a noble, I would be able to propose to her apparently.

Kirche had obviously been attempting to use this as a platform to try and get into my pants. Unfortunately for her, the whole conversation had been heard by Siesta, who had promptly interrupted and declared that the money could be used in her hometown to buy a vineyard. She had then launched her own effort to try and get in my pants, something which unnerved me greatly. She proposed running the vineyard together as husband and wife and naming the brand of wine 'Shirou's Siesta.'

Of course, from there, through some bizarre twist of fate, Guiche joined in, mentioning how he wouldn't mind testing his new found skills that I had spent the last two weeks beating into his head on some of the monsters that tended to congregate around treasure hunting spots. This was then followed by Sylphid interrupting. She had apparently heard the whole thing as well, and literally flown up to Tabitha's room, grabbed her by the collar of her shirt, flown back down, and set her right next to me, before trilling emphatically. Tabitha had been in her pajamas at the time, but hadn't bothered to put down her book the entire time and even as the argument broke out over who would and wouldn't be coming, had continued to read

It was at this point that Louise, mumbling something to herself about how fire made a good servant but a poor master, stumbled across the whole confusing tangle the conversation had turned into, and decided that she needed some time out to clear her head and practice her magic, aka blow something up without worrying about repercussions.

Which led to our current status: attempting to penetrate the abandoned temple of Brisingamen, the alleged final resting place of the Amulet of Brisingamen, a supposed legendary artifact that protected from disaster, cured all manner of ills, and I'd wager made a mean set of julian fries.

The past few treasures Kirche had dragged us off to recover had all been less than lackluster in their success rate. Apparently, Kirche had just grabbed a few maps from fortune tellers, general stores, and shadily dressed people on the street when searching for loot to hunt for. She held to the philosophy that at least one of them had to have a payout waiting at the end.

I was just enjoying the exercise and fresh air.

And the killing of orcs. Orcs had a liking for human children, and not in the benevolent way. They were the reason the temple we were attempting to loot had been abandoned. I honestly didn't care if there was actually anything in there, just so long as I had a chance to make sure that the wretched little bastards never again had the chance to launch a raiding party on another innocent settlement.

I took the time to miss the vitals of the next orc I attacked, and left it to bleed out on the ground, squealing in agony. It made me feel rather warm and fuzzy inside: like I had just petted a puppy.

"Partner," Derflinger spoke up, sounding aggrieved. "I've been meaning to bring this up for a while. It's just, well…"

"I know it's a bad habit," I acknowledged, glancing back at the trail of similarly screaming bodies behind me. "It's just that it's so satisfying." I shrugged helplessly.

"Not that!" the sword snapped. "It's just that you're letting all the other blades have the fun! I'm a sword! I'm meant to be used! Use me, partner, use me!"

I slapped my forehead. "Of course. That was rather thoughtless of me." I dismissed the halberd, and drew Derflinger instead. A second later, two limbs from one of the piggish creatures that had thought it was sneaking up on me were no longer attached, and a second after that neither were its other two.

"That's better," Derflinger cheered happily.

"Glad to have been of assistance."

*Scene Break*

"All that work," Guiche moaned, "and all we found were a hand full of coppers and what appears to have been a priest's statue of a naked woman." Guiche went out of his way to scorn the figurine, which apparently amounted to this cultures version of porn, relentlessly. Nobody here was fooled, and we all knew the moment no one was looking the statue would disappear into his bag.

"Well, I for one found it to be immensely satisfying," I declared, feeling proud of the day's work.

"Yes…." Louise said, having finally put away the book and was looking at me strangely. So were the rest of the small band. Siesta was looking a little green in the face, and Guiche was wearing a troubled expression as he regarded me. "Shirou," she began slowly, her eyebrow twitching as she spoke, "I know how much you enjoy having the chance to fight. But…" she trailed off, grasping in front of her for the right words.

"But what, Master?" I asked cheerfully, continuing what I was doing.

"But is it really necessary to repeatedly stab the limbless screaming orc?" she asked bluntly, her eye twitching as she spoke. I had taken a seat on a stump next to a small pile of still living wounded, and was now amusing myself by stabbing random maimed creatures at whim.

"Necessary? No. Am I going to stop? Also, no." I took the chance to stab a particularly fat one, twisting the sword as I did so.

"I know they're not human," Kirche began, seeming a little put off by my actions, despite the fact that she wasn't making a move to stop me. "But I didn't know you carried such animosity for demi-humans. Shouldn't you, as a warrior, be willing to give your enemies a clean death?"

"I don't have any hard feelings towards non humans," I admit. "I do have hard feelings for sentient non humans that purposefully attack human settlements and drag children off screaming into the night to be devoured. You see that," I stabbed the jiggling mounds of a particularly large specimen. I ignored its oinking squeals. "That's a baby eater. All that fat? That's baby fat. Just how many little infants has this thing killed?" I stabbed it again, and this time lifted a small ornament off its body to show the others. It was a necklace made of twisted rope, and the small white skulls of humans. "At least that many, I can be assured of."

The entire group, minus Tabitha but including Sylphid, tilted their heads as they pondered that.

"You know," Kirche said, following my train of thought and liking the destination. "I never thought of it that way." She promptly set about lighting one of the still living orcs on fire. Guiche wandered off to one that was laying a bit on the outskirt, and began practicing thrusting his sword at specific targets on its body.

"Mou," Siesta pouted. Louise, who had taken my whole speech in stride, and was now eying an orc of her own speculatively, turned and glanced at the maid.

"What is it, Siesta?" she asked, sounding concerned. The two of them had developed a strange relationship. Louise had noticed early on that I spent a great deal of time with the other girl, and initially hadn't taken any particular note of it. Ever since two weeks ago, when we returned from Albion, she had begun actively speaking with the maid. Siesta hadn't known how to take it at first, but when Louise didn't display any particular hostility towards her, the village girl had gradually warmed up to the noble. Their friendship seemed rather tentative, with neither side really sure how to react to the other, but a certain degree of comfort had begun to develop around the two of them.

Though on occasion, Louise tended to get rather confrontational. It usually revolved around when Siesta said something that was a little too forward to me. It seems that Louise might be developing a bit of a protective steak towards her Servant.

"It's just that everyone else has something to hit one of those nasty things with," Siesta complained hesitantly. "Now I want to hit them with something, but all I have is cooking supplies…"

"Well," Louise said, turning back to her own chosen target, fingering her wand and beginning to mutter an incantation. "Try a frying pan. Just make sure you clean it properly before cooking with it."

"Oh!" Siesta chirped, her eyes widening. "Why didn't I think of that!" The cute little maid promptly hurried off to one of the packs, rummaging through it for the appropriate cooking ware.

"You're a terrible influence on us all," Louise said dryly to me.

"You all had to learn about it sometime," I shrugged unrepentantly.

Tabitha, still reading, reached out and poked one of the orcs that was near her. It promptly began rolling down a steep embankment towards a cliff at the end. She then went back to reading her book.

I called out so that everyone could hear me. "Don't forget to loot the bodies! One or two of them might have something worth keeping!"

*Scene Break*

"We haven't had a chance to talk for a bit," I said to Sylphid with a smile. The two of us had gone out to loot some of the orc bodies that had been killed by Tabitha, Kirche, and Guiche when the three had set the ambush. Myself and Louise along with Flame had been left in the rear to guard the gear and Siesta. The original plan had been for Kirche to lure the orcs using her fire magic into a pit that Guiche's familiar Verdandi had dug. Then, filled with oil that he would have created using alchemy, Kirche would set them on fire, taking them out in one surprise attack.

Unfortunately for the plan, Guiche disliked the lack of confrontation in it. We'd been continuing our lessons, and he had advanced to the point where he could actually block my strikes, and on occasion counterattack at me. Not very well, but still he could try. Apparently, in his eagerness to try his newfound skills out, he had jumped the gun on the orcs and launched an assault with his bronze Valkyries. From there it had descended into a free for all. The three had gone to Plan B: kill as many as they could, then lure them close enough for me to finish them off.

I liked Plan B more personally, especially considering my instant distaste for the creatures, but Plan A let the three of them get some valuable combat experience all of their own, so I had gone along with it. Louise had been too busy trying to compose the blessing for the princess' upcoming marriage, and had decided to wait it out back with Siesta, and so had been factored in to Pan B as well.

After my little demonstration in enjoying the pain of unworthy enemies, I had volunteered to go check the rest of the bodies for loot. The ones we had searched back in camp had turned out to be more profitable than the actual bunk treasure we had came here for. More than a few of the piggish things had taken a liking to whatever shiny thing they had come across during their raiding, and we came out of it with a few valuable looking articles of jewelry.

When I had left to continue the sacred and ancient art of going through the bodies for loose change, Sylphid had 'kyuui'ed insistently and tagged along.

"Yay! Big brother has missed Irukukuu!" Sylphid, well, Irukukuu at the moment declared, rubbing her head against my shoulder happily. She had apparently been missing her private eye scratching time with me, seeing as we had been in company almost constantly for the last week or so while the six of us, eight including the two reptilian familiars, had been slogging through the wilds looking for adventure.

"Of course," I assured the young dragon. I'm told that in the developmental years it was important to praise children so that they can grow up to be confident. "Who wouldn't miss spending time with someone as sweet as you?" I scratched her eye ridge skillfully, and her wings went limp and her eyes closed as she descended out of the comprehensible vocal range and into pure contented purring trills.

"Big brother is the best!" she sighed.

"Oh?" I said teasingly, pausing to kick an orc body over so that I could check its waist pouches. "And what about big sister?" referring to Tabitha by the name Irukukuu used for her.

"Big sister is also the best!" she declared happily, leaning over to pick up her own orc body by its feet and shaking it vigorously. A few sharp rocks fell down from it, as well as a shiny piece of tin, and what appeared to be a large gold coin. I pocketed the coin, and Irukukuu promptly tossed the orc body of her shoulder, slamming it into a tree some distance behind her.

I was on two sides about the casual violence that Irukukuu would sometimes commit on the environment around her. On one hand, she just seemed so young that it felt almost wrong to have someone that was so innocent so willing to play with severed heads and smacking limp bodies against local fauna. But, on the other hand, well, dragon. They're not normally known for their compassion for lesser species.

I have it on very good authority from Kirche that the first few weeks Louise and I weren't the only ones who had a bit of difficulty figuring out how to react to each other. Apparently Tabitha had had to give the order 'don't eat them' nearly as much as Louise had had to give 'don't kill them'.

I found the similarity to be strangely endearing.

"Now now," I teased Irukukuu playfully. "There can't be two bests. If two people were the best, than that would mean that neither one could really be the best, now doesn't it?"

"Gasp!" Irukukuu said, not really gasping, but actually saying the word 'gasp'. "No! Kyuui kyuui! But I love big brother and big sister! I want them both to be the best!" She appeared honestly distraught over her inability to have two best siblings. Her wings drooped and her head lowered till it was almost at the ground, staring up at me with big puppy eyes.

"There, there," I said scratching her comfortingly. "Why don't you make Tabitha the 'bestest' and leave me at the 'best'? That way we can both be a 'best'," I point out to her, and internally I scolded myself severely for corrupting the young dragon.

"Really?" she asked her head perking up.

"Absolutely," I assure her with a straight face.

She began to waddle along beside me happily, her head bouncing side to side as she began to half trill and half sing something that sounded vaguely like ,"Kyuui kyuui! Best bestest best-best kyuui!"

If she was a human I could almost imagine a little ten year old girl swinging her arms from side to side exaggeratedly while skipping.

Still, I decided to take advantage of our conversation time to bring up something that had been bothering me for a while. "So, Irukukuu," I began, pausing to try and figure out just how to put this into words.

"Yes, big brother?" she asked her eyes closed as she continued to trill.

"If you don't mind me asking, just what about me makes me 'best'?" I decided on. I wasn't quite sure that 'why the hell do reptiles suddenly have the irresistible urge to jump me at every moment?' would have gone over well.

"Cause big brother is the best!" she declared adamantly. "He smells so clean and nice and scaly, and he's so warm! He's feels like a little dragon himself! Kyuui! And he always knows just the right places to scratch…" she stuck her head under my arm, gazing up at me with adoration as she shamelessly hinted at what she wanted me to be doing right now. With a sigh, I began to obey, using both hands to find all the little spots on both her eyebrow ridges at the same time.

She promptly 'kyuui'ed and appeared to melt to the ground under the assault. I smell scaly? And feel like a dragon? What the heck is that supposed to mean?

I indulged the dragon for a few more minutes, before resuming our original chore.

Irukukuu continued along, still singing her 'bestest-best' song, before quite suddenly dropping a bomb on me in the way that little children are known to do on adults.

"I think big brother should marry big sister!"

I stopped in my track, and spat in surprise. I started coughing fiercely, pounding my own back as I tried to clear something that couldn't possibly be in my throat out of it. Finally, hands on my knees, gasping for breath, I managed to get out, "What?"

"If big sister were to marry big brother, then I'd have both of them with me all the time! It would be bestest best!" she declared happily, completely missing my absolute shock at that declaration. "I was saying to big sister just the other day," and here she sat back on her haunches, putting one paw on her hip and the pointing in the air at an imaginary Tabitha, "'Big sister, you need a man! You're always alone! That's not good! You need someone to hug you and kiss you and always be with you!'"

"And you decided on me?" I asked weakly, feeling so completely out of my depth that if I had been in the ocean the only light around me would be luminescent fish.

"Mmm-hmm!" Irukukuu hummed a happy affirmative. "I said, 'You should marry big brother Shirou! Then you could show him your pretty white skin! And he could hug you and scratch you just like he does me, and he could always be nearby to feed me too! Kyuui!'" The arrangement seemed to be centered about as much around pleasing Irukukuu as it was about pleasing Tabitha.

"And what did Tabitha have to say about all this?" I asked weakly. Behind me, Derflinger who had been quiet throughout this all was making choking sounds as he struggled desperately to hold back laughter.

"She said, 'Oh no! Shirou doesn't like me like that! Kyuui Kyuui!'" while she was reporting her master's response to her suggestion, she had sat back on her haunches again, put on a wide eyed expression, and then extended both her arms to her waist and began waving them back and forth. Somehow, I doubted Tabitha's actual response had been that emotive, or that she had literally said 'kyuui', but Irukukuu was determined to take liberties with the story. "So I said, 'No! You must fight for big brother so that Irukukuu will never go hungry again!" she raised one of her paws in the air and made a righteous fist, shaking it furiously. "So then big sister said, 'I will fight! If I show him my pretty white skin, big brother Shirou will love me for sure!'" and here the dragon pantomimed hugging herself and wiggling joyously.

"Is…is that so?" was all I could manage to get out.

"Hmm," Irukukuu made an affirmative sound, nodding her head seriously. "I think big brother and big sister together would be the best! Don't you, big brother?" she asked me, her head tilted curiously to the side.

"It…it's a human thing," was the only thing I managed to get out. My brain was trying to recover, both from the suddenness of the suggestion, of the cuteness of the dragon's impassioned speech, and for some reason the strange reason of Tabitha reacting just like Irukukuu had described. For some reason, the mental image of Tabitha shaking her fists around like Irukukuu had demonstrated just wouldn't leave my head.

"Oh?" Irukukuu pouted. "That's what big sister said!" Pouting, she seemed to come to a decision. "Wind around me, change my appearance."

"Huh?" I grunted, and then the dragon in front of me began to glow. With a strong yet soothing burst of magic, she shone with a bright light, and then when the light was gone…

"Gah!" I declared. It seems all my relief at the fact that Irukukuu couldn't take human form had been for nothing. Just as my thoughts of her being in the shape of a ten year old too were the misguided dreams of the delusional. I cursed the Root for this. I cursed the Root most strongly.

"There," Irukukuu said, putting both hands on her hips and jutting her chest out proudly. The form she had taken resembled that of a twenty year old more than that of a ten year old. She was head and shoulders above the height of her 'big sister', standing nearly up to my eyes. She had long legs, graceful limbs, an innocent expression, a chest nearly at the size to match Kirche, and she was completely naked. "Now I'm a human too!" With no regards to her nudity, she put one hand on her chin, and the other on that arms elbow and started scrunching her face up into deep thought. "I still think big brother and big sister should get married," she mumbled, apparently seeing no difference in her thought pattern now that she was a lot smaller and lacked scales. And clothes.

"Irukukuu, should you be doing that?" I managed to ask. It was a terrible battle to compose myself enough to get that much out. My mind was reeling from the constant assaults that Irukukuu had been sending at it, and I desperately tried to regain enough balance to react in a way other then dumbly standing there staring.

"It's okay!" she chirped, once more posing proudly with her hands on her hips. "Big brother made a super secret ultra promise with me! I can trust big brother not to tell on me! Just like big brother can trust me not to say…"

"No! Stop," I tried to interrupt. Anything but that!

"'Big brother, it's time to wake up for school! Mou, if you don't hurry, you're going to be late!'" she leaned forward sternly, shaking a finger at me as she scolded me for my imaginary transgression. "'You won't have time for breakfast if you keep lying about! Tee hee!'" She actually said 'Tee hee' and then giggled girlishly, clasping both hands before her and beaming up at me with a closed eye smile.

"Murgle."

A small part of me, the part that's usually reserved for desperate battles, after receiving grievous wounds, a part that's separate and capable of dispassionately tallying up the damage while the rest of the body was incapable of anything but writhing in pain, noted that I had lost the ability to form coherent words.

"Big brother? Are you okay? Kyuui!" Irukukuu leaned forward, one finger resting on the side of her cheek as she looked at me worriedly.

Hmm, that dispassionate side of me noticed I also seemed to have lost all motor functions. This could be bad.

"Oh noes!" Irukukuu shouted, clutching both hands under her chin while her eyes watered. "Big brother's hurt!" She clenched a fist in front of her, looking resolute. "Don't worry big brother! Nurse Irukukuu will save you!" she actually saluted at me while saying this, winking and striking a pose. By the damnable Root of the world, where the hell had she learned something like that?

That's it, the dispassionate side declared. This is too much for even me. I'm out of here.

I promptly passed out.

*Scene Break*

"I had the strangest dream," I murmured as I slowly made my way back into consciousness. "Big sis-Fuji was there, dressed in a hakama. So was Illya, and she was in bloomers. They were both in a dojo. For some reason, Fuji kept hitting Illya, and ranting about 'affection scores'…"

"Darling! Are you alright?" I had been lying on the ground on a number of blankets. Surrounding me were Siesta, Kirche, and Louise, all looking worried. When my eyes had fluttered open, Kirche, supposedly overcome with relief, jumped on me, straddling my waist and pulling my head to her bosoms again.

"I…" I began, and then had to fight my way out of the crevice of her boobs. "I'm fine." I glanced around, trying to figure out where I was. The last thing I remembered was….

With a start I glanced around more carefully. There. Irukukuu, no, now that I was with company again it's best to think of her as Sylphid once more, was crouched to the side of me, besides Tabitha, looking very worried and once more a dragon. She probably hadn't had a chance to talk with Tabitha alone yet, and even if she had, she wouldn't mention what she had been telling me.

I hoped. Considering Sylphid's abilities when it came to keeping secrets, or maintaining promises for that matter, I wouldn't put it past her that Tabitha hadn't already figured out that I knew.

"I'm fine," I said again, this time a bit more sure. The lingering damage of Sylphid's ruthless combo lingered, and I found myself to still be a bit light headed, uncertain of my exact condition. "Sylphid just got a little bit affectionate and caught me off guard," I explained. That seemed to set the rest of them at ease, though Sylphid's head hung a little lower after I said it, looking sad. Flame maneuvered himself over and began croaking at the dragon in a scolding fashion. She hung her head in confused shame, not sure precisely what it was she had done, but knowing none the less that she had done it.

"Well," Kirche said, getting her mind back to business, and moving over to sit by the campfire that someone had set up. It looked like I had been out long enough for the sun to set and the others to set up camp. From the direction of the fire came the smell of Siesta's delicious cooking. Since I was responding properly, and a cause for my unconsciousness had been attributed, Siesta too moved over to once more tend her pots. Louise began to once more stare at the little book she had in front of her, trying to rack her brain for some appropriate praise for the elements that wasn't an inappropriate proverb. "We were trying to decide where to go next," Kirche explained as she spread about a few of the remaining maps that supposedly led to great fame and immeasurable wealth.

"What are the options?" I asked, trying to distract myself from the memories…By the Feel of Heaven, the terrible, terrible memories….

"Well, there's the great disc of Phaistos, said to carry the inscriptions of lost spells of great power," she began shuffling through the sheaf of paper.

"Is it made of gold?" Guiche asked, at the side of the fire and already spooning a bowl of Siesta's delicious soup.

"No, no monetary worth, just great power," Kirche admitted.

"We're in this to get rich quick," Guiche pointed out, and Kirche nodded, shuffling the map to the back before picking out the next one.

"How about this: the lost pirate treasure of Sir Francis Drake: a coveted chest of gold that the once infamous rogue Drake buried, hidden on a desert island in the ruins of a fierce aborigine tribe?"

"No," I spoke up. "No pirates please. I hate pirates." It's a Japanese thing. Ninjas were so much better.

"Hmm," Kirche needed no more explanation and shifted that one back as well. "Well, there's the Dragon's Raiment, an artifact of powerful wind magic that is said to let the user fly through the air without spells?"

Siesta perked up. "Oh! I know that one. It's by the town of Tarbes, isn't it?"

Kirche glanced down, and noted the destination. "Huh. So it is. How do you know about it, maid?" she glanced over at the domestic with a curios tilt of her head.

"Tarbes is my home town. In fact, the Dragon Raiment is a family heirloom, passed down from my great-grandfather," she said as she ladled some soup into a bowl and brought it to me.

"It's real?" Kirche perked up, surprised that it appeared one of her wild schemes might actually come through.

"No," Siesta admitted reluctantly. "Though my great-grandfather always insisted that it could fly, whenever anyone asked him to prove it he would tell them it couldn't anymore. He was a little mad like that. A wonderful person besides that, but a bit mad."

"Oh," Kirche sighed, disappointed. I tried to spoon some of the soup into my mouth, but learned that I still hadn't completely recovered my motor functions, and kept dropping the spoon. I frowned at the offending utensil.

"Why don't we go anyway?" I suggested. "It must have been a while since Siesta has had a chance to visit her family, and we could take the chance to have a roof over our head for a bit."

"Oh! I would love for you to come visit, Shirou," Siesta beamed at me, closing her eyes as she smiled happily. "I could introduce you to my father, and then…" she started blushing before covering her face with both hands and wiggling while she let loose a little, "Kyaaa!"

"Shirou," Louise spoke up, ignoring the maid's performance and the fuming Kirche who was glaring at her. "Are you sure you're okay? You're hands are shaking."

"I'm fine. I think I just need a good night's sleep," I insisted.

Sylphid perked up at that. It seems she felt terrible for putting me into this condition, even though she wasn't quite sure how she had done it. Determined to at least help me recover, she decided to do everything she could to help me sleep.

Before I even had time to yelp, she had once more grabbed me by my collar, lifted me up, formed another circle with her tail as she lay on the ground, and dropped me in before completing the circle with her head and covering me with her wing. She had apparently decided that she would look after me while I slept and ensure that I got a good night's sleep.

"Sylphid," I tried to assure her, squirming in my sudden cocoon of blue dragon. "It's fine. I'll just go back to my tent. It's not completely your fault, so you don't have to worry…"

The dragon seemed to perk up, and then the wing lifted above me, and her head rose again.

"Thank you Sylphid," I smiled at her, preparing to head back to my tent.

Alas, it was not to be. Rather than letting me go, Sylphid had darted her snout out and grabbed Tabitha by the back of her collar where she was nearby reading. The dragon lifted the girl, who never left her kneeling position, and deposited her inside the circle made by her tail next to me, and then laid back down and covered the both of us with a happy trill.

I sighed. It looked like rather than letting me go, the dragon had decided to continue her matchmaking campaign instead. Either that or she had simply decided that being near her master made her feel better, that being near Tabitha would do the same for me. I knew she was just trying to help, but still….

"Tabitha!" Kirche gasped, shocked. "You don't mean you as well…!"

"I should be surprised by this," Louise spoke up as well, and I could almost see her rubbing her forehead. "I really should be. But somehow, I'm not."

"Ah! But Shirou hasn't eaten anything yet!" Siesta added her own two cents in.

"While I admit it's a bit unconventional, I'm sure that it was neither Sir Emiya nor Tabitha's intention," Guiche spoke up, apparently addressing Kirche. "Surely there's no reason to be so shocked?"

"It's not that! Tabitha! Order your familiar to lift her wing up! I'm coming in too!"

Through it all Tabitha just kept staring at her book. I rubbed my head, trying to ignore the headache that was definitely beginning to form there.

"Okay," I said, trying to grasp on to at least some last edge of rationality. "It's so dark in here that I can barely see you when I'm sitting next to you. How is it that you're reading?"

Tabitha said nothing, but she did scrunch lower till the book was hiding her face. Even in the dark, I thought I could make out the generally expressionless girl blushing.

That's it. "I quit," I declared. "I don't want to play anymore." I curled up next to Sylphid without a second glance. "This day has just been too weird. Wake me when it's tomorrow."

*Scene Break*

"Almost there!" Siesta declared, leading the five of us through the cave that led to the Dragon's Raiment. After spending a night in her village and meeting her family, she had changed her clothes. Rather than her usual maid uniform, she was in a pale blouse and dark green skirt. Both were much coarser then the fine materials of the nobles, or even my own increasingly ragged jeans, but they looked warm sturdy and comfortable. Walking beside her was Flame, breathing a small stream of fire, as well as waving his flaming tail around contentedly. Sylphid just wasn't going to fit in the small cave, and so had been left outside.

"Why is this supposed treasure so far away from the village?" Guiche muttered, glancing around at the darkness that surrounded us nervously. So far, every attempt we had made to find treasure had ended with us in combat. It didn't surprise me too much. The people who sold the maps obviously had to make sure that they were hard to get to, otherwise it would be well known as a fake and they'd never be able to sell their maps. So far the tribe of orcs at the temple of Brisingamon had been the worse, but we've also had to deal with a few trolls, and a couple goblins as well.

Siesta had mentioned in passing that a small nest of orcs was nearby here, and I was trying to find the best way to bring up the proposal that we change this from a treasure hunt to an extermination mission. The thought of those things being so close to Siesta's hometown made me twitchy.

"Well, when great-grandfather first arrived at our village, the Raiment was located on the large field by our village. But since we used that field to grow crops, great-grandfather worked hard and paid a local noble to have it moved out to the outskirts and then cast a preservation spell on it," Siesta explained as she navigated the small labyrinth of rubble and stalagmites.

"That makes sense," Kirche spoke up, flicking her wand and occasionally throwing small fireballs of her own into dark corners of the cave. It threw up strange shadows, but helped us make sure that the cavern was free of ambush.

It was after one of these bursts that the corner she had tossed the latest fireball into suddenly proclaimed, "Ouch!"

"Who's there?" Guiche shouted, jumping like a little girl at the interruption.

"That's what I should be asking! I'll give you one chance to surrender, vile raiders attempting to steal a priceless historic artifact!" a stern voice rang out. An answering streak of fire arrowed above us, at a speed far surpassing that of Kirche's attempt.

Still, even as I moved my hand to grasp Derflinger for the coming conflict, I couldn't help but feel the voice was familiar. Taking a stab in the dark, I called out, "Professor Colbert?"

"Shirou?" a confused voice came, and sure enough from behind a stalagmite emerged the bumbling professor himself.

"What are you doing here?" Kirche and Colbert both asked at the same time.

"Treasure/Artifact hunting," they both answered the other at the same time again.

After a brief explanation from both parties, Colbert was left shaking his head disapprovingly. "You four run off from the school and skip class for weeks, and you do so in order to go treasure hunting?" he asked, sounding disapproving.

"Pretty much, yes," Kirche admitted shamelessly. Louise spoke up.

"I'm just trying to get some inspiration," she defended herself. Colbert raised his eyebrow, and then seemed to realize what the little pink haired girl was talking about.

"Ah! The blessing. It's just two weeks until the wedding, isn't it? You must be almost finished," he asked kindly. Louise drooped. Colbert continued, not seeming to have noticed. "I look forward to hearing the poetic and graceful benediction you've no doubt developed through your hard effort!" Louise drooped further, till she was on her knees. "I've no doubt it will be truly inspiring!" Colbert smiled benevolently at her, not noticing that Louise was now on all fours, and generating a dark cloud of despair.

I coughed, and changed the subject. "So you're here following up a lead on a famous historical artifact? What is it?"

"It's a legendary wind artifact that allows the user to fly," he gushed, sounding like a boy again. He tended to get that way whenever confronted by strange and unusual research opportunities. "It's called the Dragon's Raiment." He held up a map that looked identical to the one Kirche had been using.

"Ah!" Kirche pointed at it, sounding surprised. "Did you get that from Frank, at the corner between the cobbler and the seamstress?"

"Why, yes," Colbert admitted, surprised that she seemed to know his contact. "I've always found him to be a very reliable informant."

"Well, he certainly is better than Thomas, behind the blacksmith," Kirche admitted, and Colbert nodded his head at that, agreeing with her.

"So you're looking for my great-grandfather's legacy too?" Siesta spoke up shyly, and Colbert seemed flummoxed.

"Wait, it belongs to your family?" he asked, sounding disappointed. "Ah, well, I see. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to seem like some kind of thief," he apologized profusely.

"It's alright," she said shyly. "We were just going to see it for ourselves. If you'd like, sir, you could come along?"

"Oh my, may I?" he asked, sounding eager again. Then he seemed to really notice my presence. "Ah! Shirou! I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions about your homeland?" he once more displayed his godspeed by appearing directly in front of me, his eyes wide with anticipation.

"Um," I said, slightly unnerved by the man in front of me. "If you don't mind asking while we walk," I allowed.

And so the trip continued. Colbert eagerly grilled me on various aspects of my homeland, and the rest of the group quickly grew interested as well, hearing my fantastic description of what must seem to be an alien place to them. Colbert was very thorough, covering the science, the languages, the geography, and even the culture of my native land.

"So school girls truly wear something so amazing?" Guiche asked, his eyes glistening with unshed tears of joy as I described the sailor uniforms that high school girls wear, no doubt imagining one appearing before his eyes and finding the vision to be too beautiful for words to ever truly capture.

"I never imagined that that funny looking thing of Professor Colbert could actually be useful," Kirche admitted, sounding put off. "But why doesn't everyone just use magic? It seems so much simpler."

"Magic is not very well known in my homeland," I admitted. "Since science is so useful and can do things much easier and be used by anybody, mages spend most of their time isolated. Many times the people around them won't even know that they are mages. There are some academies left, but they're very prestigious," I described, thinking about London and Rin for a moment. "Most of the time the skills are just passed down through the families themselves. Because of that, most mages consider their magic to be their first priority, even more important than family or friends."

"Really?" Colbert asked, seeming intrigued by a world where magic was treated so differently.

"So in your world commoners are more important than magi?" Siesta asked eagerly, sounding overjoyed at the thought. Guiche and Kirche gave her annoyed looks at being so obviously enraptured by their obsolete status.

"Pretty much," I admitted. "Magic is more a family craft, and regarded much more seriously than it is here." I grimaced, a bit of my distaste for the flippancy that people treated magic with here shining through.

"Indeed," Guiche asked, sounding reluctantly curious. "Sir Emiya," he finally gave in to his wondering. "I've noticed before, that you make no use of wand when you cast your spells. Is there a reason you are able to do so?"

"Wait," Colbert spoke up sounding surprised. "Shirou, are you a magician too?"

"Thanks, Guiche," I said to him dryly, eyeing him coldly. "Thanks a lot."

"Ah!" he gasped, suddenly remembering that that was something he wasn't supposed to be talking about. He shrank down and appeared to begin praying that I wouldn't take it out on him during our next practices.

A pity that some prayers just don't get answered.

"And to answer your question, yes, there is a reason. The magi of my homeland use our own magic circuits and the power within our body, rather than wands and runes of the elements like you do." I shrugged off the difference, and then corrected Colbert. "And I'm a magus, not a magician. We consider the two different where I come from."

"Magic circuits? Within the body?" Colbert seemed lost by that right there. "And what is the difference between a magus and a magician?"

"Well," I said, grinning beatifically. "We spend several years preparing ourselves for it, but then we deliberately open the channels of magic in our body, called the magic circuits, so that we can manipulate our power directly, rather than having to chant or use a foci like you do." I was exaggerating things a little. It was actually quite common to chant or use a foci back home, but I didn't really feel like describing magic crests at the moment. "The ritual to do so takes years of preparation, and is intensely painful, much like having a piece of red hot steel being shoved slowly through your spine." A feeling I had entirely too much experience with till I learned how to simply turn the circuits on rather than build a new one every time. "It's also instantly fatal if you make even the simplest of mistakes."

The entire group was staring at me now. This was a very different experience than their own 'wave a wand and get results' style. I continued blithely, ignoring their growing discomfort.

"In fact, in my homeland they say that the first rule of the magus is that to be a magus is to walk with death. That to bear magic is a burden, and a responsibility, one that we should we willing to kill and die for. But then, I'm sure your own brand has a certain charm to it. It's not like I find the very idea of a bunch of under trained, self absorbed, overbearing, and supremely arrogant few lording the skills that they never had to work harder for than to lift a wand and read a book over those who spend their lives toiling through burden and overcoming hardship."

I tried very hard not to take it out on them. It wasn't their fault that this was the way they were trained, or the only path they knew. It's not their fault that they never had to shed blood, sweat, and tears like I did in order to get where they were today. Well, Louise being the exemption here. At least there was a mage in this land that I knew would always respect her power, and would treasure it dearly after having to claw and bite her way into each piece of skill she developed.

I tried really hard, but I just might have a little bit of resentment in me. Very teeny bit, I'm sure.

"Ah," Colbert managed to get out, sounding unnerved. "And the difference between a magus and a magician?" I got the impression that he was desperately trying to change the subject.

"A magus is one who can use magecraft. We call magecraft anything that we do through sorcery that could be duplicated through science with enough time and funds. Throwing a fireball could be done by lighting a stick on fire and tossing it. Building a wall can be accomplished through shoveling dirt up. You get the idea," I explained, Colbert nodded.

"A magician is one who has accomplished what we call 'true magic'. That's any act or feat that can never be duplicated through any act of science or effort." My voice was soft as I explained this. It was a topic that deserved reverence. "There are only five true magics left in the world, and only four magicians. Think of it like you do the title Chevalier: it can't be bought, only earned."

"What are they? The true magics." Colbert had at least managed to pick up on gravity of what I was speaking, and had toned down his enthusiasm, even if his awe had risen proportionately.

I shrugged uncomfortably. "I don't really know much about the first and the fourth. I do know that the second is called the Kaleidoscope, and that the third is known as Heaven's Feel." I paused, definitely uncomfortable. "I'd rather not talk about the fifth."

"Kaleidoscope? Heaven's Feel? What do they mean? What are they?" Surprisingly, it was Louise who asked that question. I could feel her eager eyes on me, and suddenly realized why. I was talking about lost and impossible magics. Naturally, as a user of the Void, she would feel an affinity for them.

"Heaven's feel is the materialization of the soul," I explained, talking to her directly. "It is the absolute creation of life."

"That's impossible," Colbert said, sounding shaken. "There's no way for a mage to just make life! A golem or an alviss, maybe, or even a homunculus, but to create life… "

"Which is why it's a true magic," I pointed out dryly. "The Kaleidoscope is just as outrageous. It's the operation of parallel worlds. To travel to or make use of them somehow."

"Alternate worlds?" Tabitha finally spoke up for the first time since we entered the caves.

"As in worlds that exist, but are not this one. It could be a place that's almost identical to this one, even having the same people in it, whom are just different in little ways, or it could be something completely different, stranger than your wildest dreams," my soft tone seemed to impress on them just how fantastic the true magics are, and just why I insisted on the difference between a magus and a magician.

"Amazing," Colbert said. He was the best educated, the most curious, and the most experienced one here. I could tell he was the one most likely to understand just how awesome these feats were. "And the fifth?" he asked finally.

I shivered. "I'd really rather not talk about the fifth," I repeated.

"Why's that?" Guiche asked, looking troubled by the revelations I had made. "Is it something terrible?"

"It's not so much the magic itself, it's the magician who uses it," I admitted. I shivered again, harder this time.

"What's wrong with them? Is he some kind of horrible monster?" Kirche asked, eyes wide.

"Look, can we please stop talking about her? If you talk about the Blue, then you might end up summoning the Blue," I desperately pleaded, glancing around as though she might be hiding behind a corner, ready to jump out at me.

"Her? The Blue?" Siesta asked this time, tilting her head in confusion. She was the least affected by all this talk of magic. It was all fantastic and strange to her, so she didn't really have a frame of reference to understand just how powerful what we were talking about was.

"Are you alright, Shirou?" Louise asked, noticing that I had wrapped my arms around me and hunched over.

"No. Please, can we stop talking about the Blue now? That woman scares the ever living shit out of me," I said bluntly. And that definitely set the rest back for a pause. I had faced down orcs, trolls, treacherous griffin knights, murderous thieves, and gigantic golems without flinching. There was something I was scared of?

"But when we were talking of Viscount Wardes, even though you knew his power you were still eager to fight him. Why would you be scared of this woman?" Guiche asked, perplexed by my reaction to this mysterious 'Blue'. It might have been his chauvinism shining through when he found out that the Blue was female.

"I heard once," I said solemnly, "that the Blue went for a walk, and when she realized that there was a mountain in her way, she blew it up. And then, when she was walking through the rubble, she tripped, and got so mad she then blew up every little bit of rubble that was left over."

"Surely the story was exaggerated," Kirche pointed out, looking doubtful.

"Probably," I admit. "She most likely only blew up the rubble that tripped her." Even the True Ancestors, the legendary race of nearly immortal ancient creatures avoided the Blue if at all possible. I heard that the Executioner of the race, the most powerful and blood thirsty of them would rather cross the street then have to deal with her. "If I were to ever have to face her, I'd probably just run away screaming."

"What about if I was there?" Louise asked, wide eyed.

I glanced back at her, and looked her up and down. "You're right. You have short legs. I'd throw you over my shoulder first, then run away screaming."

"What about the rest of us?" Kirche asked, looking unnerved.

I glanced back at her, then the rest of the group, and nodded my head. "I'd throw Louise over my shoulder and then trip the rest of you and try to keep your bodies between me and the Blue while I ran away screaming." I paused, and then looked over at Tabitha. She was still reading her book. "Except for you, Tabitha. You have a dragon, and I'm sure Sylphid can fly faster than I can run. I'd probably try to save you long enough to get to her first."

Tabitha nodded once at my declaration, and kept reading.

"Let's," Colbert started up, looking a little uncomfortable after my declaration, "let's change the subject, shall we?" He was looking at me with something other than discomfort as well, though he appeared to be taking his time and gathering his thoughts.

"Please," I pleaded. It took a few minutes of awkward silence, but then Siesta mentioned dinner in a forced tone of voice, and everyone jumped at the opportunity to leave the uncomfortable silence behind.

It was by the time we were reaching the end of the cave that Colbert finally brought up what he had been pondering.

"Shirou," he said suddenly, interrupting Siesta as she described the specialty dish of her village, a stew called Yosenabe. "The second true magic you mentioned, the Kaleidoscope."

"Yes?" I asked, curious about what he wanted to know.

"These different worlds you speak of…" he paused and then met my gaze firmly. "You're from one of them, aren't you?"

"Eh!" Kirche, Guiche, Louise, and Siesta all shouted at the same moment, turning to stare at me. Tabitha managed to spare me a glance from her book.

Despite myself, I began chuckling. "You really are pretty sharp, aren't you Professor?" I nodded calmly. "Yes, it's most likely that I'm from a different world. It seems my home world and this one are connected somehow. I've already come across a few different artifacts from my home, like the Staff of Destruction."

"Then if you're from another world, doesn't that make you being here a true magic?" Colbert said, as the two of us and Tabitha continued walking, leaving the still gaping four behind us, frozen still as statues in shock.

"Not really. It was uncontrolled. It's more a matter of summoning spells being just that strange than anything else," I shook my head, correcting him. We were crossing an open field, towards a strangely nostalgic looking building that apparently housed the supposed Dragon's Raiment.

"What do you mean?" Colbert asked, his interest in academia pricked by my casual dismissal.

"I mean I've actually seen summonings that reach through time itself," I explained, stopping at the door and glancing at the lock holding it shut. "It's entirely possible that some of the summoned creatures you see are actually from either the future or the past as well," I tried hard not to glance at Tabitha. She herself had summoned a supposedly extinct creature. I couldn't help but wonder if rather than there being a surviving flock of rhyme dragons out there if she had simply reached back to a time when there were rhyme dragons and brought one forward.

"Is the summoning spell truly that powerful?" Colbert asked, seeming awed by the possibility. I glanced over at Tabitha, and made a gesture as though to say, 'would you please?' She reached out and tapped her wand against the lock. With a click, it opened.

"Well, you are the ones using it as a sacred ritual, aren't you?" I pointed out to him, and he gave a wry chuckle and scratched his head. "On two," I told him, grasping one edge of the large double doors. He nodded and positioned himself to help me open them.

Far back behind us, still still as statues, a sudden breeze blew a lonely leaf through the frozen four we'd left behind. Flame seemed to be curious about just what had caused his master to not want to move anymore, and had started nudging her with his snout.

When we finally got the door open, I let loose a low whistle. "Well, Root be damned," I murmured, then shouted back at our stunned companions. "Hey! You guys want to see another artifact from my world?" I gestured into the doorway, where a genuine World War Two era Zero fighter plane glistened in the mid afternoon light shining through the now open doorway.

*Scene Break*

_ Louise had known that her Servant was strange. She had known that he wielded unusual powers, and was from a far distant place. She had known all that._

_ She hadn't known just how far a distant place that far distant place had actually been._

_ She watched Shirou sleep, the two of them rooming at Siesta's family's home. Siesta had insisted that the two of them stay with her, and the rest of their group plus Professor Colbert had been offered lodging at a few of the other houses in the town._

_ Louise briefly thought about Siesta, in an effort to avoid thinking about Shirou. Louise really didn't know what to make of the maid. On one hand, she was just a commoner, the help that the students often saw flitting around the castle, but never really paid any attention too. _

_ But she was also a friend of Shirou's. At first, Louise had started talking with Siesta in an attempt to warn her off from her Servant. She simply didn't believe that the girl was worth his time, and didn't want him to have to go through the trouble of telling her off. He had enough trouble with a relentless Kirche as it was._

_ But the more time Louise spent with Siesta, the more she actually found herself kind of liking the maid. Her relentlessly cheerful outlook on life, her great skill as a caretaker and housekeeper, her strange way of blending directness with shyness, and above all else, the fact that her feelings for Shirou seemed like they were actually genuine and not like Kirche's. Kirche just wanted to bed her Servant. Siesta actually seemed capable of actual emotional depth._

_ Of course, all that seemed only mildly important now that the fact that Shirou hailed from a whole other world had become known. How does someone react to something like that? _

_ Shirou didn't seem to react at all. He seemed to treat it as something as simple as being from a neighboring country. _

_ What did that mean? He spoke so fondly of his lover, was so steadfast in the knowledge that he'd be able to go back to her. She'd known they'd parted, but she still didn't know the circumstances of it. Why had she left? Where had she gone? Why was he so calm about their separation?_

_ So many questions. Louise sighed, and closed her eyes, letting sleep finally catch up to her. Tomorrow they'd be arranging travel back to the castle, with their surprising prize in 'd need her rest._

_That night Louise dreamed of swords and battles._

_ It was always the same image. The last few nights, the scene had repeated itself. It was always her Servant, standing on a hill, surrounded by swords. They were driven into the earth around him by their blades, their hilts standing proud and erect. It was a stunning scene, stirring and moving, Shirou standing tall and proud, back unbent, eyes burning with conviction. Standing beside him were his companions._

_ The swords would be different each time. The hill would be different. Sometimes the people would be different. The girl with black hair, a red top, and black skirt; a boy sometimes, with stern features and a strange uniform; another girl with darker hair, gentle features, dressed in a modest skirt. Others stood beside him as well, his allies, his friends._

_ But never the girl in blue. Was he waiting for her? Was he looking for her? Were they seeking each other out across some grand campaign? Had she been taken, and was he trying to get her back? _

_ And so, filled with as many questions as she slept as when she was awake, Louise dreamed of swords and battles._


	9. Promised Blades: The Ninth night

The Hill of Swords: Ninth night

Author's note: Well, I originally planned on having this chapter and the one before all lumped together as one, but I guess it really was better if setting them as two. I've had plenty of reviewers commenting on the speed of my posting. I gotta admit, it's surprising me too. The only time I've ever written like this was my first fic, Finishing What You Start. It's like the moment I sit down it all comes rushing out.

I gotta admit another thing. I like it. So for all of you out there enjoying, don't worry, I'm having just as much fun writing as you are reading.

I am about to go on a vacation, so there might be a hiccup in this insane pace, but don't worry, there will be more.

A couple things to note about this chapter. First off, I'm starting to reach real development in the relationship between Shirou and Louise. I'm sure some of you will be disapointed in the direction they're going, and some of you will be ecstatic. Please, feel free to express that in the reviews. I definitily wouldn't mind feedback on how I'm doing.

Also, one of the scenes in this chapter is best read with the accompanying music. You'll know the scene, and you'll know the music. Trust me!

*Story Start*

It was the earliest hour of morning. The night was still dark as I stood in it, leaning against the door of Siesta's house, and even with the lightening of dawn beginning to chase them away the stars still hung like jewels in the western horizon. They were strange stars, the stars of another world, but it didn't particularly matter to me. I never really paid much attention to the constellations even back in my home world, so it's not like their loss would trouble me.

Instead of the sky, what I watched in front of me was instead the great field that surrounded Tarbes. It was a wide and rolling, more of an extended valley meadow than anything else. Back in Japan, there would never be such a wide open space, so untouched by human hands. Japan was a small country, and every inch of space was needed for some purpose or other. Even in many of the other countries I'd traveled to, such a wide flat space was uncommon. Most of the land that remained unspoiled in my world was that way because it was too inhospitable, or to overgrown or inconvenient to warrant the price of development. There were only a few countries in my home world that I could think of that would be able to boast a place like this: the Midwest of the United States, the Steppes of Russia, the Hills of Mongolia, perhaps a few others. Still, I don't think that anything they had could boast itself the equal to the tranquility and peace of the Fields of Tarbes.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" a voice spoke up behind me. I hadn't heard them approach, but the voice was easy to identify. I let a small smile reach my lips, and turned to face her.

"Yes, it is," I agree with Siesta. She answered my own small smile with her own, and moved to stand beside me, joining me in my early morning viewing. "You're up early. I would think that without your castle responsibilities you'd enjoy sleeping in a bit more.

"Mmm," she hummed, shrugging apologetically. "I like getting up early. Besides, this is a farming village. We're used to getting up early." She was once more in her simple clothing, her green skirt blending in with the dark, while the pale blouse stood out all the more because of it.

We stood in silence for a moment more, and then Siesta glanced up at me shyly. "How does it compare, to your homeland?"

I chuckled softly. "I was just thinking about that actually." Pausing, I let my eye trace the field once more. It was dotted freely with flowers, already beginning to sparkle in the rising suns light with the dew that had collected on them during the night. "No," I finally settled on. "I'd be hard pressed to find a place like this in my homeland."

She smiled at me at my confession. "Father likes you," she admitted to me, as though confiding a secret. "He says it must be fate to meet someone from the same country as great-grandfather." When we had returned from the hanger of the zero fighter, Siesta had explained to her family that I came from the same land as their ancestor. Just the same country though. There was no mention of other worlds. It was irrelevant, anyway. "He said," she paused, glancing quickly at my face, and then looking down as she continued. "He said that if you'd like to settle here, that you'd be welcome." Again, she glanced up shyly and then back down, blushing. "He said if you did, then I wouldn't have to work at the castle anymore."

It seemed a little sudden to me. She had just as much as proposed to me right then. But then again, I suppose it was the way things were done in these parts. Families would have lots of children, to help in the fields, but as they grew, they'd be harder and harder to care for. And so the children would marry young, and start their own farms, raising their own families. Siesta's parents were rather young themselves, and Siesta herself was the oldest child of nine. Such a large family, compared to me who had been raised alone for most of my life, not even having my parents be the biological or adoptive lasting more than a few years each. It seemed a strange way to live, constantly bumping into someone, never a moment to one self. But still, it didn't seem a bad way either.

With a brief sigh, I shook my head.

Siesta looked down, clasping her hands in front of her. She didn't seem too surprised by my refusal. "Is it because you're from another world?" she asked. Staring up at me pleadingly, she continued. "You've never mentioned it before, and I don't think you've ever seemed even to miss it, or search for it. Surely, it wouldn't be so bad, staying here, raising a family? Being with me…" she trailed off, blushing again, so brightly that she glowed nearly as much as the rising sun.

"It's not the world," I admit, shaking my head firmly. "It's the one I'm searching to be reunited with."

"Your lover," she sighed. "Even though you have a noble like Miss Zerbst trying to get you to propose to her, you still remain loyal." She sighed again. "I'm a bit jealous. You're so faithful."

"Kirche doesn't want me to propose to her," I remind her dryly. "She just wants me to ravish her. Or she wants to ravish me. I don't think she's particularly picky about which."

Siesta giggled at that. Lately, not taking to the disappointment of not getting her itch scratched, Kirche had been getting more and more outrageous in her attempts to seduce me. Her latest scheme, one which I blamed Sylphid for entirely, was trying to convince Tabitha to assist her. I have no idea what this lands view on multiple partners for that kind of thing was, but it seemed a little over the top, even for someone as unashamedly promiscuous as Kirche.

I thanked the Root for small mercies that I had managed to overhear this scheme in the conception rather than having it sprung on me out of the blue. I also made the promise to make some kind of sacrifice to the Root as long as Tabitha never accepts it, nor that Sylphid ever catch wind of it.

"Even so," Siesta finally responded, looking at me sadly. "She's back on your world, isn't she? Do you even think that you'll be able to find a way back to her?"

"Yes," I said with absolute surety. "I know without a doubt in my heart that we will be reunited. I just need to keep searching patiently, and I will find her again."

"But what if you never find a way back?" she asked her eyes glistening with sadness for my situation. She really was a compassionate soul.

"Then I shall have to be very patient indeed," I murmured.

My resolution seemed to set something in Siesta. Reaching out, she placed one small hand on my arm. "Then I, too, will be patient," she declared, regarding me frankly.

I glanced away, saying nothing. Far be it from me to attempt to dissuade another when they have decided on a course such as that.

I just hoped the girl beside me didn't come to regret it.

*Scene Break*

"Why is it that we're getting punished but Louise isn't?" Kirche sulked as she dragged a mop behind her. As profitable as the treasure hunting expedition had turned out to be, it didn't change the fact that most of my companions were students at a school, and had been skipping class. Consequentially, upon our return to the academy, rather than triumphant applause, we had been met with mops and buckets. The punishment for truancy was to clean all the windows of the castle.

The exceptions to this edict were Louise, Siesta, and I. Since Siesta had time off coming anyway, she'd been allowed to stay behind in Tarbes with her family for another few weeks. Since I'm not technically a student or an employee, I was free from the same fate that awaited Kirche, Guiche, and Tabitha. Louise had finagled her way out by using her upcoming duties as a bridesmaid and the excuse of seeking inspiration for the blessing she was supposed to give.

I think the school might have been a bit less forgiving if they realized she had barely managed to write ten lines in all the time she had been absent. Of course, once they'd hear the ten lines, they'd probably realize just how badly she had needed inspiration and excused her all over again.

"Because she talked faster than you," I told Kirche in response to her question. "Next time, have a better excuse then 'because I felt like it'."

"But Darling," Kirche protested. "It was for love! What other excuse could possibly matter?"

"Well," I began, not really paying attention to her. Colbert had sprung for the costs of paying a few of Guiche's contacts from his father to have a few off duty dragon knights fly the zero fighter back to the academy, and even now I was too busy eying it hungrily to worry too much about the redhead. "You could have said something like you were helping Louise out, or that you had been doing a research project for Professor Colbert. I don't think he'd even notice the way he's been all over this thing."

"Oh!" Kirche said, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "Do you think it's too late to use one of those now?"

"After you passionately declared to the headmaster that you didn't regret a thing, that class was boring, and that you'd much rather be having days of adventures and nights of steamy passion with me?" I asked dryly, not feeling the least bit of sympathy for her. "No, I don't think he'll believe you."

"Oh pooh," she huffed, resigning herself to her fate as a window washer. Besides her, Tabitha already had one mop out, and was working it up and down a window, facing away from it and reading a smaller book in one hand as she worked. Guiche had ardently set himself to the task, cleaning profusely and with great dedication. I wondered why he was working so hard, until I realized that the building he so desperately was washing was actually the girl's bath house.

His motivation became quite clear after that.

Louise, for what seemed the first time in weeks, was not doing her Tabitha impression: constantly staring down at the Founder's prayer book. Instead, she was doing a very mild Colbert impression. She seemed to find the plane fascinating, though I wasn't sure why. Maybe it was just because it was such an unusual thing in this world, or maybe because it was from my world, or maybe just because she thought it was neat looking.

"So," she finally said, as she circled the plane on more time. "This thing can really fly?"

"Yes," I nodded, moving to stand beside her. I gestured at the propeller. "The engine within, kind of like the one that Professor Colbert made, forces the large propellersto spin. Do you see the angle of the blade?" I made sure to point out the specific cut of the propeller's blades, and when Louise nodded, continued. "When they spin, they force the wind back over the wind, making the frame move forward. Now, take a look back here, at the angle of the wings themselves and at these flaps back here," I indicated the appropriate areas. "When the plane is moving fast enough, due to the angle it causes the plane to lift off the ground."

"I see," Louise murmured, sounding like she didn't really see, but was trying very hard and had a good chance of eventually seeing if I were to continue explaining.

"So it's the shape itself which causes it to be able to fly," Colbert agreed. I jumped and banged my head on the fuselage I was standing beside, though Louise just kept staring at the zero fighter. How in the Root did he keep sneaking up on me like that?

"Then why weren't you able to fly it back?" Louise asked, apparently too lost in thought to notice the sudden appearance of the bald professor. "Even Siesta's ancestor said it wouldn't be able to fly any more.

"That's because of here," I indicated, pointing out the fuel tank. "It doesn't run on magic, so it needs fuel." I pried open the top of the tank, indicating the empty recess to Colbert, who appeared to try and stick his face through the small hole and into the tank itself. Louise stayed further back, curious, but not that curious. "This would normally be full with a flammable substance, gasoline maybe, but it might be a different kind of fuel. It you look at the bottom, you can still make out just a little bit left, probably still in good condition because of the preservation magic on this baby," I patted the wing again.

"So we just need more of that substance down there? I can't see, here, let me light a fire real quick," Colbert muttered, beginning to incant a spell while pointing with his thin wand.

"No!" I shouted, unnerved by the potential damage that could do. I didn't want this baby hurt. Oh no. No yet. My hand began petting the zero fighter, like I would a cat. I have plans for you, oh yes I do baby. "I mentioned, it's flammable, remember? Light a fire in there and we'll all be feeling it."

"Ah," Colbert sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. For all his book smarts, I got the distinct impression that Colbert might be a bit short on common sense. "I didn't think of that," he admitted.

"Do you have a file or a flask? I'll get some out of there so you can see it properly." I kept petting my little baby, refraining from whispering soothing nothings to it. I was making the assumption that Colbert really was just as much the walking stereotype that I had him made out to be, and that he would actually walk around carrying beakers and flasks on him.

Turns out, he was. When he quickly produced a small vile with a cork, I took it from him with a thanks, and then used my longer limbs to reach in. It took a few swipes, but I finally managed to get enough of the fuel into the glass and then brought it back up and corked it.

"Here," I handed it to Colbert, who snatched it from my hand so fast that one second the vile was there and the second it was gone. He began peering at it, pulling an honest to Root magnifying glass from his robes and studying the semi-clear liquid carefully. "So," I led him carefully. "Do you think you might be able to synthesize something like this?"

"It'll take a bit of study, but I'll see what I can do," Colbert promised me earnestly.

"Well, I'm glad to see you taking interest in activities besides stabbing things and collecting things to do the stabing," Louise began, cocking her head to the side as she spoke, a note of curiosity appearing in her voice. "But why does this thing have you so excited? I mean, yes, it can fly, but there are dozens of other flying vessels around. What's so special about this one? Is it that it came from your homeland?"

"It's just with this I'll finally qualify for the Rider class!" I admit, finally letting my excitement through. "It's always been a sore point for me that I could manage just about all the other classes of my homeland, but I couldn't qualify for one just because I didn't have a fancy flying horse. This is so much better than a flying horse!"

"A flying horse?" Louise asked, looking completely lost. "What does this have to do with a flying horse?"

"And look!" I declared, finally unable to contain my exuberance any longer. I darted forward to the 7.7mm machine guns and the 20mm canon mounted at the front of the plane. "You all have muskets in this country right? Well imagine the power of a musket, matched with the range and accuracy of an arrow, capable of firing over a hundred shots per minute! That's what these are!" I began stroking them feverishly. "Take that Bellapharon! You think you're all that! Eat hot lead!"

Louise fell over at my declaration, her eyes twitching. Her hand started creeping for her wand, but she visibly constrained herself.

Colbert was beside me in an instant. "Truly? You have technology capable of a feat like that?" his eyes sparkled, and I'm pretty sure mine were too when I grasped his hand and nodded, too overcome with joy to speak.

He detached himself from me and began to hug the nose of the zero fighter. "Oh! The breakthroughs we'll have together," he sang joyously.

I gave into the urge myself, and embraced the machine guns. "Oh! The armies we'll slaughter together!" I crooned, rubbing my face against the weapons.

Louise remained on the ground, still twitching.

*Scene Break*

"Servant," Louise growled out from behind me.

"Yes, Master?" I asked, not moving out from the back of the cockpit. While Colbert feverishly worked in his lab to concoct a synthesized fuel for the zero, I was busy myself working on the upkeep and system check for the old plane. It was a combination of my tracing skills, my experience with machinery, and the imparted knowledge the glowing runes of Gandalfr gave me, but I was steadily removing obsolete equipment, cleaning clogged pipes and tubes, and generally knocking the little bits of rust that had accumulated over the years.

"As much as I appreciate your zeal for the task of preparing new methods to serve me," she ground out, "I've been talking to you for nearly twenty minutes, and all you do is say 'Yes, Master' and ignore me."

"Yes, Master," I said, moving an impromptu traced wrench over the bolts that held the large and obsolete radio behind the pilot's chair.

Apparently, that was the final straw, and Louise went about getting my attention in a more direct manner: she kicked me in the back of the head.

Five minutes later, and now appropriately focused, I sat with Louise besides a small table, enjoying the lunch she had brought out, and listening much more carefully as she explained her problem to me.

"It's this prayer," she admitted, seeming doubly put out by both her problem and the amount of effort it had taken to get me to listen to her problem. "I've been working nearly a month on it, and it's still no closer to being finished! The princess' wedding is only a week away, and I have nothing!"

"Well, it's not that you've just been laying about moping," I point out, sipping the tea that accompanied the lunch we were eating. "You've been trying your best at it."

"Well that's going to be a good excuse when I ruin princess Henrietta's wedding," she snapped, kicking her feet petulantly. "'I'm sorry for ruining your wedding, princess! But at least I tried!'" she slumped forward. "And what is my Servant doing instead of helping his Master? He's tinkering with his new toy!" she glared at me from the table.

I flushed a bit. It wasn't an entirely unfair accusation. "Now Master," I began apologetically. "It's not like I haven't tried to help. It's just, well, I remember doing about as well as you did."

It seems that the two of us had more in common than just hardship in magic. Our ability at prose was both zero. Louise tended towards the use of proverbs, and most of my attempts were drawn from j-pop. Neither was particularly appropriate for a somber occasion like a wedding.

Louise sighed at that, acknowledging my point. "I just don't see why you have to spend so much time on the Dragon Raiment," she grumbled. "You could at least make an effort to help. That way I could blame you if the prayer ends up being ill received."

"Master's skill at politicking frightens me," I told her dryly. "And I apologize. It's just with the upcoming war, I thought it best to focus my efforts where they'd actually be useful."

"Wait," Louise snapped, her head coming up in surprise. "What war?"

"The one with Albion," I reminded her gently. She just looked more confused at that.

"But I haven't heard anything about war with Albion," she declared, shocked. I gave her a curios look.

"But the rebels have already finished conquering the island," I reminded her, pointing out the event which had occurred no more than two days after we managed to finish the princess' mission. "By now they've managed to consolidate their forces, restructure the loyal members of the government, and will be looking towards their next target."

"Wait," Louise told me, rubbing her eyes. It looked like her earlier bad mood had been replaced completely by confusion. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Why does that mean that there's going to be war?"

I shook my head. Sometimes I forgot just how young my Master was. "Master," I began, sighing as I did so. "What else is the new government going to do?" With a sigh, I picked up my tea again, sipping it slowly as I composed myself. "Look, Master, the old government was over thrown by rebels, right? Well, as I see it, and I'm willing to admit this is a pretty simple way of looking at it, is that there are three reasons for people to rebel: the first is that the old government was so horrible that the people did it in order to protect themselves."

"That's impossible!" Louise exerted, sounding affronted that I would ever suggest that the now dead crown prince Whales of Albion was anything less than a talented and benevolent leader.

Rather than argue it, I just nodded. "I don't know much about the politics before I got here, just that there was a rebellion going on. From what I've managed to gather, the old government there was no better or worse than most of the other governments on this continent. Which means that the rebellion had to come from one of the other two reasons: greed or ideology."

"Greed or ideology?" Louise asked, regarding me seriously. The two of us had already slipped into what was becoming common roles for the two of us. Me, the advisor, and her the leader who listened to my advice carefully and then used it to decide the course of action.

"Either the rebels simply wanted more wealth and influence, and thought they could get that by being the leader of the country, or they had some kind of belief that drove them to want to gather the power they needed to accomplish the belief," I explained.

"I think I see," Louise murmured, sipping her tea contemplatively. "At least, the greed part. I'm still not sure of the ideology."

"Perhaps a new religion, or a dissatisfied sect of the old one," I supplied, leaving them general enough for her to make her own examples. "Or maybe it was a political ideology. Maybe rather than having nobles lead the country, they wanted some new form of government, like elected councils or some such."

Louise nodded, affirming her understanding of my reasoning. I took that as a cue to continue.

Leaning back in my chair with a sigh, I began to paint the picture my reasoning has brought me to. "If it's greed, now that they have the country, there's no way they'll want to stop there. They'll want more. They've already managed to conquer one country, so why shouldn't they be able to do it to another? The same if its ideology. They succeeded once, so that must mean their belief is true, or maybe just better than everyone else's. They'll want to do the benevolent thing and spread it."

"The benevolent thing to do is to try and conquer their neighbors?" Louise murmured, sounding disbelieving.

"To them, it will be. Either way, they're in a good position for it. Albion is a floating island. It can only be reached through one route, the air. If they consolidate their air force, they'll be able to keep any invasion from getting by solely on the strength of their ships. And for the offensive, they'll be able to launch an attack from nearly any location. There's no need for them to march their armies through the countryside. In order to get here they'll have to come through the air, so it'll be the same no matter where they invade from."

"That doesn't mean that there's going to be a war," Louise declared firmly. "There's no need for it. There are treaties in place, and Albion and Tristain have always been historically close. The royal families and nobility have intermarried so often that both sides will have cousins or brothers on the other side."

"Treaties with the government that is now gone. And the connections through family are with the old royalty, and the old nobility," I reminded her gently. Her head cocked to the side not understanding the point I'm trying to make. "I said that they have probably managed to consolidate their power by now. That would mean either killing the dissenters, or gathering enough of their families hostage in order to enforce their compliance."

"No!" Louise gasped, spilling her tea as she sat up straight. She stared at me wide eyed. "But…but that would be savage! No nobility in the country would support such tactics!"

"Oh," I said cynically, "I imagine that as long as they were getting enough gold for it, a few of them would."

"Oh? You sound bitter, partner," Derflinger spoke up from behind me. It'd been awfully quiet lately. The few times it has spoken up for the last few days it had sounded annoyed. "Been in a few wars yourself?"

"War is old men talking and young men dying," I told him with a mirthless snort. "I've never been on either side of a war, but I've been between a few in my time."

"What do you mean? Between a few?" Louise asked hesitantly.

"I don't generally fight for either side, but occasionally an innocent third party will get caught up in it. Like if the two are trying to get an advantage by crossing a neutral country's border, or if the invading country decides to pillage the countryside and the invaded country decides to let them so long as the important cities remain untouched. I've defended a few of those in my time," I tell them, thinking back on those few occasions.

"And you think that Tristain is going to be one of those third party countries?" Louise asked. She didn't sound like she really believed my logic, but was going to listen to it all the way to the end.

"No," I admit bluntly. "I think Tristain is the one that's going to be invaded. It's smaller than Galia or Germania, and the closest too. It only has a young princess in charge, one without any experience and known more for her appearance then for her martial skill or experience. It's the reason why she's getting married, after all: to cement an alliance with Germania in order to protect the country from invasion in the first place."

"So now you're getting ready to fight in this supposed war? That's why you're so insistent on playing with your toy?" Louise asked, glancing at the zero. I huffed a bit. It's not a toy, and I'm not playing.

Much.

"No," I admit. "I don't care for either side of the upcoming conflict. Neither one is my country, and I don't have any strong inclination to risk my neck for either. But," I interject, stopping Louise even as she began to draw herself up to scold me, "you do, Master. I don't doubt for a second that if you are called upon to act, that you will do so. And when you do, Master, then I shall be there as well, your sword and shield in battle." My eyes are flinty as I proclaim this, and she glanced away quickly.

"You're wrong," she told me, though her voice lacked the conviction of mine. "There's no way of knowing any of what you said is true. It's all just supposition and guess work."

If she was trying to convince me of the truth of her words, she came up short. I got the feeling that if she was just trying to convince herself, she was also coming up short.

"Hmph," Derflinger spoke up, sounding annoyed. "Well, why don't you just go back to polishing that shiny flying machine then?" it snapped at me, apparently not able to hold his tongue any longer.

"What's gotten into you, Derflinger?" I asked, honestly confused by its tone.

"Nothing, partner," it said sulkily. "It's not like you don't have a newer and shinier weapon over there. Go on. Go back to that, that, home wrecker!" it snorted. "I'll just go back to the corner. Don't worry about Derflinger! Oh no! It can take a little more rust. Now that there's something better out there, we might as well just pawn that old piece of junk so we can get some new paint or something."

Great. Now my Master is annoyed with me, and my sword is jealous.

Well, at least I can take care of one of these problems easily enough.

I stood up. "Come on Master," I encouraged. She looked up at me sulkily. "We can at least take care of the problems you've been having with the prayer."

"What?" she asked, having apparently become so distracted by my paranoia that she forgot why she was in a bad mood in the first place.

"The prayer," I repeated. "It needs to be long, pompous, elegant, and poetic, right?"

She nodded doubtfully. "But both of us are terrible at that kind of thing. What makes you think that we can do any better now?" She stood slowly, still upset, but curious enough, and desperate enough to finally finish the stupid thing that she was willing to listen.

"Not us," I corrected. "We just need someone else to write it for us. Someone pompous, long winded, scrupulously elegant, and prone to poetry the moment he sees anything in a skirt. Someone who's still trying to make it up to me for accidentally blabbing one of my secrets so easily."

Louise's eyes lit up as she got where I was going. "Guiche!" She turned and started running towards the castle, probably for the first time in her life eager to seek that particular fop out.

"Well," Derflinger said, and if it had a nose I'd no doubt it would be turned up and to the side right now. "I won't be bought off."

It paused, and then muttered, "Not that cheaply anyway."

"The wedding is in Germania, right?" I asked. "Isn't that where that special oil you like is imported from? The kind that gives you that sheen that just gloriously catches the light of the sun right before you carve open the flesh of your enemies, and yet still lets you shed their blood without staining?"

"And I'm sold!" the sword said eagerly. "Now let's get back to finishing up that toy of yours." Its voice went a little more solemn. "You're not the only one who can see the way the wind blows, partner."

*Scene Break*

It was the day the two of us were to leave for the wedding, and Louise was frantic.

"What do you mean that's the only outfit you have?" she nearly shrieked, looking at my ragged jeans and fraying shirt. They had gone through more than a few trips into the wild and seen some pretty rough combat, and thus were far from the level of quality one would really expect necessary when being present at a royal wedding.

"I mean that this is the only set of clothes I own, Louise," I remind her dryly. "I didn't exactly have a chance to pack an overnight back when I arrived, and it hasn't really been necessary before now to pay particular attention to how I look."

"Ohh!" she moaned, rubbing her hair frantically as she paced. "And we don't have time to get something from town! You can't show up looking like that!" she waved her hand at me.

"It's not that big of a problem," I tell her, trying to calm her down no matter how amusing it really was to see her getting so bent out of shape. "Just send a messenger ahead with my measurement. Even if that's not possible, we'll still be there three days early. That will be more than enough time to pick up something appropriate."

The logic seemed to mollify the pink haired girl a bit, but she still had her cheeks puffed out and her arms crossed sullenly. I'm not exactly feeling sympathetic. I'll admit to being a little apathetic about my clothes. So long as they keep me covered according to the norms of decency, and still allow me all the appropriate movement necessary for combat, I'm not picky. If she had wanted me in something else, then she should have mentioned it earlier.

The two of us were standing by the entrance of the school, waiting for the carriage that was meant to pick us up for the trip to Germania. It was supposed to arrive at noon, but so far was late. In order to pass the time, Louise and I had started arguing about my outfit. It was a comfortable back and forth for the two of us initially, but once she realized that I was serious in my protests that I didn't have anything else, she had begun to take it a bit more seriously.

In an effort to draw her mind of it, I pointed down the road, indicating the faint trail of dust that was rising in the distance. "It seems like the carriage is arriving."

"Finally," Louise huffed. She folded her arms and began tapping her foot, standing beside the two large pieces of baggage that she was bringing on the trip. She had wanted to bring more, but the fact was that she didn't have that much here at the school in the first place, and most of the dresses she wanted to wear would have been troubling to bring. She was mollified by the fact that most of the appropriate clothing would be ceremonial, and provided for by the hosts of the wedding.

"It seems I was mistaking," peering forward and shading my eyes. "That's not a carriage at all." Louise glanced at me, encouraging me to go on. I reinforced my eyes and began studying what was approaching. "A single rider, armed, looks like a guard of some sort. Riding fast, the horse looks exhausted."

"They better be coming fast," Louise muttered. "If they were going to be delayed, they should have sent a messenger earlier."

The rider finally made it to the gate, and Louise was drawing herself up to begin delivering her scolding as only an angry noble could scold, when the rider went right past us without a second glance.

"Oi!" Louise snarled at his back as he finally stopped his horse in front of one of the tours that made up the castle proper. "We're back here!" She began to storm after the messenger, face red and back arched like cat once more. With a sigh I followed after her, my longer legs easily matching her furious pace.

We almost lost the rider, who hadn't slowed down his furious pace just because he was dismounted. We finally managed to catch up with him at the Headmaster's office, just in time to hear his report as he delivered it to the headmaster.

"Albion has declared war upon Tristain!"

Louise froze when she heard that through the door. She had been reaching for the knob, so caught up in her warpath that she had forgotten to knock. After that declaration though, all the anger went out of her, and her face turned white.

"Looks like you called it, partner," Derflinger spoke up from my back. I folded my arms, leaned back against the walls of the castle, and sighed.

"Meh," I said, not feeling too happy about now having the opportunity to say 'I told you so'. I didn't really care much for war, one way or the other. It's not like I had any kind of moral high ground for condemning the act. I was always moving from one battle ground to the next, fighting for something or other, and I didn't have any problem killing when required. I did dislike war from a personal stand point though. It always seemed to me that the ones responsible for starting wars, the politicians and religious leaders and the profiteers, never actually participated in them. If there was something out there that they felt strongly enough about to have hundreds and thousands of people die for, then they should demonstrate that conviction by being there themselves. Instead they were always far back, away from danger, and generally getting richer from the experience while others died for them.

It always seemed to me that so many wars could be prevented if the ones responsible were the first ones out on the field.

Still, even as I dispassionately noted the details of the report that we were still eavesdropping on, one particular piece of information caused me to freeze as still as Louise.

And then my eyes narrowed, and I wasn't completely able to stop myself from letting loose the angry growl from deep within my throat. Louise, who had dropped her outstretched hand to her side and was staring at the floor sorrowfully started, and glanced over at me with a question on her face. She seemed surprised to see the anger on my face. My arms still folded, my fingers began to dig into my biceps as I struggled to control myself.

"What is it, Shirou?" she asked quietly, reaching out to rest one hand on my forearm gently, trying to understand just why I was reacting the way I am.

"The village they're using as the invasion point," I managed to grit out.

Louise cocked her head to the side and squinted as she tried to remember just where the messenger had said the invasion was starting. "It was Tarbes, wasn't it?" she sounded hesitant. She had probably just heard the word 'war' and that had been enough for her, so had only been half paying attention herself. A second later, her own eyes widened and she put both her hands to her mouth in sudden fear. "Siesta!"

"Master," I ground out, and she met my gaze. Though I didn't say it aloud, she could see my dilemma in my eyes, and hear my unspoken request plainly. I was a Servant. It was my only duty to protect the girl in front of me, my summoner. But old habits die hard, and this was my oldest habit, my strongest ideal, equal in my eyes even to that of my duty.

To save.

Even if I didn't return her feelings, Siesta was still someone I called a friend. She was the first person to be kind to me when I arrived, and had gone out of her way to help me whenever she could. Just the thought of her life in peril, not through any action of her own, but through the thoughtless acts of an over ambitious country sent fire through my blood, boiling my brain with rage. The unvoiced question I was posing to my Master was for her permission to go and protect my friend and her village.

Also unvoiced, was my intention to do so with or without her consent. If ever there was an order that would have required a Command Sigil, it would have been the order not to go.

Louise could see that in me, and understood me, even though I did not speak. She glanced down and to the side once, her face lost. This was different from a few orcs in the woods, or a duel with a noble. This was one man against an entire army. Then her own features hardened, and she met my gaze again. With a firm nod, she released me from my stillness.

With a cold smile of gratitude, I turned and walked away. Time to see if Colbert had managed to finish the fuel.

*Scene Break*

He had. When he had answered his door, he had looked as though he had just woken up. The explanation I had given him for my presence woke him up quickly, and he had darted off at an undignified speed in order to gather the casks of the ready gas. I headed to the zero fighter to perform the last minute checks I would need in order to ensure that the plane would be ready for what I was about to put it through.

When I had arrived, I found a surprise waiting for me.

Louise stood in front of the plane, her feet planted at shoulder width, her back straight and her head raised in challenge. This time it was my turn to hear the unspoken ultimatum.

That Siesta was her friend too. That this was more than just a village. This was an invasion of a country, HER country. And that she would be coming along as well, or neither of us were going.

Despite myself, despite the danger I knew she would be putting herself into, I smiled.

There is indeed steel in my Master.

*Scene Break*

"So what's the plan?" Louise asked me, sounding very nervous. She was behind me, as I sat in the pilot's chair, steering the great steel frame as we roared through the sky towards our destination. She had taken up occupancy where the radio once had been housed. It was a lot less comfortable then the chair itself, and not as safe either. I had insisted that she secure herself with rope in order to ensure that she didn't fall during any of the maneuvering. In her hand was clutched the Founder's Prayer Book. She hadn't let it go since she joined me in the cockpit. Her knuckles were white on it from the pressure of her grip. Louise had probably forgotten it was there completely, and now it served better purpose as a stress relieving grip ball then as a priceless ancient artifact.

I didn't know much of the landscape, and had been worried at first that I might miss the village purely by accident. Turns out, I didn't have to worry after all. As we grew closer, an immense billowing cloud of smoke could be seen, getting larger and larger at every second. The invaders had probably burnt the village and field to the ground when they began their landing. They'd need to make sure that the ground was flat and free of obstructions for landing, and the houses would provide shelter for potential ambushers.

"The air force will primarily consist of dragons, griffins, and manticores, right?" I asked, preparing a plan in my head, but needing her knowledge of this lands typical components of an army. "Besides that there will be a couple large scale ships used as carriers for the troops?"

"Mostly dragons," Louise corrected me. It looked like she was grateful for the opportunity to lecture me for once. "Albion's mountain ranges are famous for the strong breed that live there, so in order to capitalize on it they mostly focus on training dragon knights rather than the others types." She paused searching her thoughts for the information I would need. "As for the ships, there will probably be only one or two large carriers for housing the dragon knights. The rest will be smaller skiffs, each one housing a specific company of the ground forces."

"Makes sense," I said with a nod. "We'll have the advantage when it comes to speed, so they'll be hard pressed to be able to match us directly. Dragons on the other hand have the advantage when it comes to maneuverability. They'll be able to move in any direction much faster than we will. First we'll take them out. I want to limit their ability to pursue us. The machine guns will be enough for that."

"Will these," she paused and tried to shape the unfamiliar word , "matching guns be able to destroy the other air-ships?"

It was a close attempt, so I don't bother to correct her. "No. They're simply too small. What are the ranges on the cannons the ships will have?"

"I'm not sure," Louise admitted, biting her lip as she thought. "Perhaps twice the range of an arrow?"

It's enough to work with, so I nod. "What about the types of shot?"

"Types of shot?" Louise asked, not having any idea what I was talking about. Surprisingly, Derflinger spoke up there.

"They'll have cannon balls and graff," I nodded, wincing a bit at the last. Cannon balls wouldn't be a problem. We'll simply be moving to fast for them to effectively target us. Graff on the other hand was wide spread shot, more along the lines of dozens of smaller shot being launched simultaneously. They'd spread, like the fire of a shotgun. The range would be less, but they'd have a great chance of striking us.

"Then our best chance would be to hang high, out of the range of their cannons, after we clear the dragons. At that point, Master, it should be safe enough for us to open the cockpit. You'll be able to use magic, and you're the best chance we have of sinking the rest."

"What about the bow and arrow you use?" she asked, nodding her head as she understood her own role in the conflict.

I grimaced. "They'd be destructive enough, but I wouldn't be able to fire properly from here. I wouldn't be able to shoot and steer at the same time. If it comes to that, we'll have to land first, and that would put us in range of their cannons, and in reach of their ground forces." I shook my head. "It's possible, but only as a last resort."

Louise nodded her head, looking grim but understanding her own part, and preparing herself for it.

"Get ready," I tell her, as the cloud that I had been closing in on finally grew close enough, and I could see the enemies themselves. "Hold tight to something, and be careful not to strike your head. It might get a little rough here."

With my finger on the triggers of my guns, I reinforced my eyes, and began picking out the number of dragons I would have to take care of. From my count, there were only twenty. I was a little surprised at the number, having been expecting something more from an invading force, but I rationalized that due to the size of the dragons, and the amount of food each one must eat, the sheer upkeep of housing a squad of knights on a ship must limit the number that they'd be able to field at one time.

I sighted the first of my targets, and squeezed the trigger.

The first three dragons that went down went down pathetically. They had no way of identifying just what it was that was coming up on them, and had probably assumed that my range would be the equivalent of theirs. Though their dragons could breathe fire, it was only a danger in close proximity, more useful for close combat against enemy infantry or against another rider of a beast. I was able to attack long before I got close enough for them to be a threat. The machine gun roared, the first time such a sound had probably been heard in this world, and the 7mm rounds tore into the beasts.

Considering the sheer size difference, there was little chance of the rounds penetrating far enough into the sheer bulk of a dragon to actually kill them outright. I made sure to keep my aim at the wings instead. If I could remove their ability to fly, gravity would take care of the rest.

I felt a little pity for the dragons themselves. My time with Sylphid had engendered a strange sort of companionship with the flying lizards. But they were enemies of the opposite end of the battlefield, and that was enough for me. A glance down at the shattered remnant of the village Siesta had grown up in, and the blackened remain of the field I had been gazing at not so long ago, and all pity left me.

The shock of my attack scattered the dragon knights. They simply had no tactic that could deal with something so fast, and no defense that could handle the destructive power of lead moving faster than the speed of sound. I crisscrossed the air above the village, keeping as much distance between myself and the enemies' actual ships as I could, and with every pass the enemies numbers dwindled.

When my kill count reached thirteen dragons, Louise spoke up. "Amazing. Albion's dragon knights are supposedly the best in the world. And yet they're dropping like flies."

Derflinger spoke up as well. "It's not that great," it muttered, sounding petulant. "So it can destroy an entire company of dragon knights. So what? I could destroy a company of dragon knights if I wanted to. And I can drink magic. Can this thing drink magic? No. I'm still a better weapon."

"If it makes you feel any better," I comforted the sword, "the zero fighter probably won't be this effective in combat ever again."

"What?" Louise asked, unable to draw her eyes away from the front, where dragon number fourteen and fifteen fell, the dull roar of the wounded beasts echoing over the drone of the engine. "Why's that?"

"I only have a limited amount of ammo," I explain. "And the shots are just too precise for me to trust anyone in this land to make more. If they're even the smallest bit misshapen, they could cause the gun to back fire and end up dealing more damage to the plane than to the enemy.

"In that case," Derflinger said, sounding like it really did make him feel better. "This is amazing! I've never seen anything this fantastic in any of my six thousand years! What a wonderful thing, this zero fighter is!"

By this point I had finished off seventeen of the dragon knights, and the last three had had enough. Desperately, they wheeled their mounts, trying to make it back to the safety of the carrier. They must have noticed that I had been avoiding them. I narrowed my eyes. That wouldn't do. If we were going to circle the fleet and start picking off the ships like planned, then I wanted their intercepting capabilities to be completely gone. I accelerated towards them, pushing the plane faster than I had previously.

"Hold on," I threw behind me, "we might end up taking some fire." I narrowed my eyes, and pulled my trump card just in case. The runes on my hand glowed, but in this situation, Gandalfr was limited in use. My own speed or strength was meaningless while in the plane and the only advantage Gandalfr gave me was the ability to use it in the first place, which admittedly was a very good advantage. But I have other skills besides those that were granted to me by contract.

Trace on.

Analyzing composition. Identifying structure. Preparing for reinforcement…

Carefully, very carefully indeed, I began flooding the planes frame with magic. I ignored the inner workings, not confident enough in reinforcing so many strange moving parts, but the hull of the plane, and the window of the cockpit I was able to dramatically increase.

The dragon knights had noticed my pursuit, and increased their own speed accordingly. The boat they were approaching, the largest in the gathered fleet, moved to protect their forces, and sure enough cannons roared along the side. I wheeled the plane, trying to shake off their aim, but unable to take proper evasive maneuvers while still pursuing. My finger found the trigger of my machine guns once more, and I squeezed.

The last three fell, and at the same time, a loud crack echoed through the cockpit. I glanced up, and saw the small hair line fracture at the edge of the glass, a sign that my precaution had been right. Swinging low and using the dive to build up speed, I swept beneath the ship, and concentrated on getting out of range of its cannons.

"Partner," Derflinger spoke up again, sounding curious this time. "What are you humming? And why is it so catchy?"

"It's called 'Flight of the Valkyries'," I answered. For some reason I just couldn't get the song out of my head. "It's a tradition," I explained my action, not wanting to admit that I was doing it simply because I'd seen it in a movie once. I glanced back to see if my lie had been believed, and noticed something. "Louise, your book is glowing."

"Huh?" she looked honestly startled at that, and glanced down as well, seeing that I was right. Splitting my attention between the air in front of me and the developing situation behind me, I watched as she read the first few lines, and then drew in a startled gulp of air. Finally her eyes widened in glee, and she glanced back up. "Can you get us somewhere where they can't fire at us?" she asked, meeting my eye and apparently very excited about something. "I just found the perfect spell to use."

"Roger that, Master," I acknowledged, and began maneuvering the zero up out of range of the cannons.

As we gained the altitude necessary Louise stood, untying herself from her restraints. At her urging, I opened the cockpit, the rush of the air roaring past us loud in the air. Bracing herself against the back of my chair, wrapping one hand around my shoulder to support herself she lifted her wand and began chanting.

I had to suppress a gasp. Then I had to suppress a moan of satisfaction. This was different from her usual incantation. I could only make out parts of it, but for some reason the words she was speaking echoed through me. I could feel my blood pounding at each syllable, the heat rushing through my body, the shiver of satisfaction that slowly made its way through me.

I didn't know why, but I was suddenly having a difficult time suppressing a savage smile from forming on my lips.

"Partner! Behind!" Derflinger's voice brought me out of the haze that Louise's spell had put me in. With a sharp glance, I saw that I had been generous when I had thought that I had finished off all the dragons. There was still one behind me. It was smaller, but it was faster too. The one who was riding it had polished formal armor on. It seemed as though this one was the captain of the dragon corps, or perhaps a general of some kind. Whatever the case was, it was following me hard.

I pushed the zero into a quick dive, dodging a lance of lightning that the rider threw at me. Damn it, I don't have time for this.

Once more I extended my awareness, tracing down through the zero, and with my analysis came to realize that I was out of ammo. I weaved and turned, trying to shake the chasing rider that continued to throw magic at me, but the extent of my maneuverability was limited by the fact that the cockpit was open and Louise was standing. Her incantation continued, and it seemed like her spell had put her in a trance, just like it almost had me.

As I searched my mind for a tactic, I finally settled on one I had only heard of in passing. I honestly didn't know if it would work, but it would cost me nothing to try.

Trace on.

Freeing my hand from the controls for only a second, I glanced down at the weapon I had chosen. It was a wrench. The same one I had been using earlier for maintenance. Without waiting another second, I threw it over my shoulder and out of the plane.

The dragon rider, whose attention was focused on using all his skill to keep his pursuit while casting magic, didn't notice until it hit him square in the face. At the speeds we were traveling, it dented his helmet, cracking the bones of his cheek and rendered him almost instantly unconscious. He fell from the dragon in the next second.

"Huh," I said, finally indulging in the smile that had been threatening to burst out ever since Louise started her spell. "Well I'll be. It worked."

"What kind of tactic was that?" Derflinger asked, sounding annoyed.

I shrugged. "I only heard of it in passing. Apparently, in one of the countries in my homeland, the United States it's called, it's a commonly used tactic for getting other drivers to back away when they're too close."

"What a strange place that must be," Derflinger muttered, sounding both appalled that I had resorted to something so lacking in appropriate drama, and yet charmed by the effectiveness of the tactic.

Whatever I was planning on saying next was lost, as Louise finished her chant. "Explosion," she shouted.

It started so small, I almost missed it. A ball of light, in the center of the field. It was so inconspicuous that I almost disregarded it completely. But then it began to grow. As it doubled in size, and then tripled, and then kept on growing, I belatedly turned the zero away from it, opening the throttle to full speed. It continued to grow, faster and faster, absorbing first one ship of the fleet, then a second, and then three more.

With one spell, my tiny Master had succeeded where an army would have failed. Louise trembled where she stood, and then fell forward, onto me. I shifted her gently, and she let loose a tired moan as she made herself comfortable on me. For all the effectiveness of the spell, it seemed it took a toll of its own on the caster.

"There," she murmured, sounding on the verge of sleep. "I did it. I used the void."

"I saw," I told her, smiling down on her. She managed to crack her eye open, and she smiled back at me. "Didn't I tell you once, my Master is the most powerful?" Louise murmured contentedly, unconsciously burrowing herself into my chest, gripping my shirt as her eyes shut again. "Rest well, Master. I will guard your sleep."

I glanced behind me, at the wreckage of an entire invading army, seeing the devastation that followed behind Master and Servant, and then looked to the field, seeking a place to land the fighter. It was time to check on the survivors of the village. I hoped that I would be able to find Siesta fast. I had to find a place more comfortable than my lap for my little Master to rest in.

*Scene Break*

_Louise smiled in her sleep. She had done it. Truly done it. She had cast real magic. Sure, in the past with Shirou's guidance she had managed to control her magic, even find a use for its peculiarities. But that was always making the best out of a bad situation. This was her first true success._

_ Deep inside of her, she felt something that had been tightly wound within her loosen. It was something different from her usual feelings of inadequacy, of her secret worries about disappointing her family and failing her legacy. This was something that had been building more and more ever since she had summoned her Servant. _

_ At last. She really deserved to have called someone so powerful. Shirou had been an inspiration to her. More and more she had grown to admire his strength, his dedication, and his ability. He had supported her even when she had given up on herself. He had pushed her to accomplish, to truly achieve what it was that she could. It was thanks to his efforts that she was able to look at herself in the mirror and start being proud of who she saw there, confident that she would grow in her skills, and that she could face the day that awaited her._

_ And now, she was finally worthy of fighting beside him._

_ Well, she corrected herself with a silly giggle. Not beside him. If she tried that again, he might pull another one of those scary smiles on her. No, she would be behind him, watching his back as he faced down their enemies, and chanting all the while._

_ That night, Louise dreamed of swords and battle._

_ And just as before, again and again she saw Shirou standing on a hill, surrounded by swords._

_ But besides that, something had begun to change. _

_Fewer and fewer of his allies now stood beside him. Some of them had fallen, some of them had left. Less and less she saw familiar faces. The girl with gentle features was gone. So was the other girl, the one she had seen more than once that dressed in strange flowing garments and carried a bow. Fewer and fewer stood beside her Servant, until finally there was only one left._

_The girl in red and black. More and more she looked saddened, though she continued to stand beside her Servant._

_And then, on one hill, even she was gone._

_Through it all, her Servant was changing too. The fire that he had been so full of began to dim and flicker. More and more his back began to bend under the weight of the battles he had found in. More and more his features looked troubled._

_And still, there was no sign of the girl in blue._

_And so, Louise dreamed of swords and battle._


	10. Promised Blades: The Tenth night

Hill of Swords: The Tenth night

Author's notes: First of all, for those of you wondering why this chapter has appeared despite my warning of delays due to vacation, I'd like to dedicate this chapter to airports. To airports, and the long waits between crossover flights. To air ports, the long waits between crossover flights, and the ridiculous delays caused by random acts of god and human stupidity. Thanks guys. Thanks a lot.

As for the chapter itself, wow, this was long. Nearly twice the length of a normal chapter, but I'm afraid I had a reason for that. First off, a bit of spoiler for the chapter, so feel free to skip over and come back later after you finished reading if you don't want that...

This is the spoiler part. In the original anime, the two episodes this chapter is based on were separated, one in the first season, the other in the third. I found the one from the third season to be completely illogical, and make no sense whatsoever. Then i read the book, and found that both of the episodes were supposed to happen one after the other, and that the first actually had elements that explained the second. Thus, I chose to use the books example and combine them together. Unfortunately, that left me with enough work for two chapters, but no easy spot for me to separate the two.

Furthermore, the I'd have to come up with another dream sequence. I had been carefully building the sequences the last few chapters for the one at the end of this one specifically. If I had to throw another one in, it would have flubbed the buildup I was aiming for, and thus, the long chapter was formed.

As for the content itself, I'm sure I'm going to get flack about the way I handled Montmorency, Louise's little potion incident, and Shirou's overall development. What can I say, besides I couldn't imagine any other way for Montmorency's time in the spotlight to go down, I figured Louise having a little more confidence and her friendship with Siesta expanding her idea range, and that this had been planned for Shirou since the beginning.

On the plus side, I think that I'm really doing well with the development between Louise and Shirou. I'm pleased with the way their relationship continues to evolve. Plus, I'm discovering that I'm having almost as much fun writing Kirche scenes as I am Irukukuu scenes!

Oh, yeah. A lot of people have wondered when or if they'd get to see a certain sword that shall remained unknown, and why it was that Shirou didn't spam it constantly. I gave a brief explanation in the work, but thought I'd be more explicit in the notes. Several of Shirou's weapons have psychological aspects to their lack of use. Some of them because he holds too much respect for to use casually, as in the one in this chapter. Another particular weapon, which I'm sure some of you have been wondering about, will make a showing later on, but Shirou has his own reasons for not using it casually.

Another oh, yeah. Some of you have been wondering about my repeated references to kinky threesomes. You see, the original F/sn visual novel had two to three sex scenes for route. They were generally well written and story relevant, but when they made the anime they cut it out in order to lower the rating you could put it. For those of you who didn't know, in the anime, when they're in the shack and Shirou gets that funky dragon CGI? Yeah, that was him boinking Saber. And Rin was helping. For perfectly acceptable plot reasons, I assure you.

And now, on with the story. Please, you like a part, mention it in reviews. Hate a part? Also give me feedback.

*Story Start*

With the runes of Gandalfr glowing on my hand as I gripped Derflinger, I moved through the darkening forest like a ghost. I was so fast that it was nearly impossible for the enemy to follow, nonetheless they tried again and again to strike me with their magic. Keeping my eye close on their wand, I tracked its movements, anticipated its aim, and timed the completion of the spell so that suitably large tree was between me and it when it was launched. Devastation was unleashed on the poor flora, and I closed one eye to protect it from the potentially dangerous rain of splinters that pelted me.

Using the cover provided by the destruction of the vegetation, I changed tactics. Instead of the circling and dodging I'd made use of earlier, now I moved directly towards the target. They had continued attempting to track my movements, and had moved their wand according to the direction I had been streaking in a second ago, and by the time they realized that I was coming straight for them, there was only a dozen feet between us.

Having no chance of matching my speed, they instead darted backwards. It was a delaying tactic, and they knew it. They had no chance of matching my speed, so actual escape was impossible. But they could extend the time it would take me to reach them enough for them to complete one last spell. They were banking everything on being able to complete it, and I was banking it all on keeping them from doing so.

When the distance between us was a foot longer than striking range, they completed their chant and cried out the attack. "Explosion!"

With a grimace, I put Derflinger between the two of us, and the magic sword greedily drank as much of the spell as it could. Even so, void magic was powerful, and the blast managed to force my charge to a halt. It was only thanks to my reinforcing skills that I came through unscathed.

Nonetheless, the spar was over. The conditions of the match were that if I laid the flat of my blade upon the little pink mage, then I would win. If, on the other hand, she could force me to block, then she would win. It was a game we'd been playing for hours now, and Louise was trembling as she stood before me, barely able to keep her feet.

"Very good, Louise," I told her, meaning it. "You managed to be able to move while continuing your incantations and the speed of your spells has improved dramatically."

"Thank," she panted. "You," she wheezed. "Very much," she gasped.

I eyed her for a second, before sheathing my blade and moving to stand beside her. Slipping one arm around her waist, she leaned gratefully on to me and I led her to a medium sized boulder we'd been using to sit on. I grabbed the small flagon of water and the towel we had brought along, and passed them to the exhausted mage. Thankfully and without shame she tossed it back, gulping audibly as she did so.

"As much as I admire your enthusiasm, are you certain you wish to continue these sessions?" I asked, even though I did admire it. These brutal spars had been at her insistence. Shortly after our return from Tarbes, with a zero fighter empty of bullets and gas and with a satisfied expression on both of our faces, we had been called to the palace. It appears the princess' had been reviewing reports of the battle of Tarbes, and had noticed our presence. It was no surprise that she would be scrutinizing them so hard. We had found out later that the princess had been at the head of the army that had appeared on the battlefield beneath us as we were busy decimating the air forces. Our actions had single handedly changed the battle from complete defeat to victory for Tristain.

Unfortunately that meant that Louise's status as a user of the void was already out in the highest level of the government. Luckily, through a combination of Louise's devotion to her childhood friend, and the princess' own desire to have a trump card in the face of her approaching coronation my Master had been accepted into the princess' personal service. I got the impression we were going to be something of her trump card and serve as her right hand kind of thing. Not a bad deal actually.

This had apparently raised concerns with Louise herself too. She had brought up her desire to get some experience with individual combat over a cup of tea a few days later. I had initially protested. It was almost insulting to me as a Servant to hear her suggest that there might come a day when she'd have to face a swordsman, but she had been insistent.

Though the first few sessions had been lackluster for her, she had quickly begun to improve when it came to individual combat. The ability to split her attention between incanting and moving had come quickly, and her previous problems with her aim had been all but eliminated. I was honestly considering teaching her archery solely for the purpose of being able to see just how precise she had become: the explosions tended to devastate targets, so it was hard to see precisely how off center she was.

"Yes," she insisted answering my question about her intention to continue, finally taking a second away from her drinking to answer me. Offering me the water, I took it and drank the last of it myself. She began wiping herself down with the towel, though it seemed to be pointless. Her uniform had soaked through with sweat, and her hair was matted down with it too. She looked a far cry from her usual immaculate self. "I might have made improvements, but if I'm going to be a proper mage, I need to be able to feel my element so that I can start combining it."

"I'm going to be honest," I admit, seating myself beside her, giving her enough room so that I didn't add to the heat of the late afternoon sun. "I'm still not sure what that means. I keep hearing about how mages of your world are measured in their capability by how many elements they can combine, and yet most often than not I only see people casting just one type of spell. Like Guiche only casting earth and Kirche only casting fire. Even the professors seem specialized. Shouldn't the lines and triangles be able to cast more diverse magic?"

Leaning back, Louise began to flap her shirt, encouraging the cool air to reach her skin. "When we say that a mage can combine elements, we don't mean different types. Most people can only use one type of element. It's just the number of times they use it that affects the power of the spell."

"Number of times they use it?" I encouraged. This was something that I had been curious about for a while.

Louise let loose a small 'hmmm' before adopting the 'Tohsaka Rin Lecture Position Number One', which consisted of having one finger up in the air, and the other hand resting on that arm's elbow. I suppressed a smile at the sight. She had begun to use more and more of the expressions and actions that I had named after Rin. I suspected the Root was to blame for this, but then again, they could just be universally common in small overpowered female mages.

I found myself morbidly curious if she would develop the 'Tohsaka Rin Scary Laugh' eventually.

Louise, unaware of my train of thoughts continued her explanation. "When we say combining elements, its better to think of the word element in those instances as components of a spell then as the actual elements themselves. When actual different elements are combined, they have various effects. Like Tabitha: she combines water and wind in order to make ice. But most people simply add more power when they combine. So instead of adding water and wind, someone like Kirche would add fire and fire, and make a more powerful fire spell instead."

"And the maximum that anyone can combine is four elements?" I asked, gaining a better understanding of the magic system of this land.

"Well, most of the time," Louise admitted, seeming to remember the exception. "The royal families are said to be able to combine as many as six."

"I guess that's why they they're the royalty," I quipped, with a small smile. She snorted and tried to hit me with her wet towel. I dodged as halfheartedly as she tried. "So when you say you're still trying to feel your element, you mean you're not using the traditional method?" I asked, getting back to her earlier grumblings. She nodded, and with a grimace gestured with her wand. A nearby bag floated up and she began to pack away the water and towel, grimacing at the sweat stained rag. This was another development with my tiny Master. Ever since she cast her first true bit of void magic many of the simpler spells, mostly those unattributed to the elements themselves that had once eluded her, began to show actual productive results. We had a few theories about why this was happening, but no way to prove them conclusively.

"It's the same problem we had earlier. Void is just too unusual. It doesn't seem to respond like normal magic," she sighed though it sounded more out of habit then any real frustration. "It doesn't help that the prayer book doesn't seem to want to reveal any more spells." She gave a half hearted glare at the little book, as though blaming it for its obstinacy.

"I told you, noble girl," Derflinger spoke up from my back sounding like it was repeating itself. "The book will reveal itself when you're ready. If it's not showing you anything, then you're not ready for anything."

Louise stuck out her tongue at the sword childishly, and in response Derflinger made a raspberry noise at her. At least the two of them were getting along.

With a glance at the early evening sky, I took charge of the situation. "That's enough for one day," I decided, giving the clearing around us a wincing look. We'd been using this place for a while now, and it was definitely beginning to look ragged. Louise's practice was definitely not conducive to the environments well being. We might have to find a new place soon. "It's getting late and you're definitely going to need a bath before sleeping."

Louise looked like she wanted to be affronted by my blunt assessment of her condition, but then her nose wrinkled as she took in her own scent. "Indeed," she finally agreed. When she tried to stand, her legs trembled, and I moved once more to support my little master.

"Would you like me to carry you?" I asked, genuinely concerned about the trip back. It wasn't that far, only about a mile, but even such a short distance through the darkening woods might be too much for her in this state.

She flushed a little, and from the expression on her face her pride was doing a brief battle with her pragmatism. In the end, pragmatism won. "Yes please," she admitted. I lifted her gently, carrying her bridal style. "You wouldn't happen to have any more water, would you?" she asked hopefully, making herself comfortable in my arms.

"I'm afraid not," I admit. "I'll prepare some tea while you're bathing," I promised her. She smiled gratefully, and we set off to return to the academy.

*Scene Break*

"Here's fine," Louise ordered me as we made it to the gates of the castle. I lowered her to the ground, and she was able to stand a bit more steadily after the rest. When she wobbled at her second step, I decided to offer her a way to support herself that wouldn't offend her noble pride.

With a courtly bow, a type of bow I'd been practicing under her direction for formal occasions, I offered her an arm. "Would the lady care for an escort this evening?" I asked in flawless court style.

With a smile both at the offer and at the improvements in my manners, she nodded. "Thank you, kind sir," she told me, and made to curtsy, but ended up nearly falling on her butt. With a blush she placed her arm in mine, though from our practice sessions I could tell she was holding on inappropriately. Proper manners would have been to simply place a hand on my elbow, whereas in this occasion she had literally locked her elbow around mine. I could feel the weight she was putting on me, and knew that she was going to be going to sleep early tonight.

That was fine. With the academy in summer recess, there were no classes at the moment. My tired Master would be able to sleep late the next day. A large number of students had returned to their homes. Considering the fact that the country was now officially at war, a number of them might end up enlisting and not returning till the conflict was over.

Still, a number of students had chosen to remain at the academy for various reasons. Some of them simply to continue various academic projects. Others didn't want to have to deal with the inconvenience of traveling. And then there were some that simply couldn't afford to travel. The only qualification for the nobility status was the ability to use magic. There were no financial requirements, so sometimes despite their nobility there would be families that were lacking in funds. In fact, since the ability to use magic had absolutely no connection with common sense, there were quite a few nobles out there in bad financial condition.

We came across two such students while we were crossing the courtyard. Guiche and Montmorency had had a table set up and were apparently enjoying a romantic late night moon viewing session. Our arrival seemed to break the growing romantic tension between the two of them, because when Guiche looked up at our arrival, pausing in mid sip, Montmorency looked upset.

"Ah!" he said, gesturing dramatically with the wine cup in one hand, and his rose wand in the other. "Sir Emiya, Louise. Are the two of you also enjoying the beautiful night?"

"You could say that," Louise answered dryly. As the two of us got closer, the light from the lantern the two of them were using finally illuminated us enough for the two of them to see her status and both of them came to their own conclusions about what we had been doing.

"Oh my!" Montmorency gasped, blushing deeply as she took in the way Louise was hanging on my arm and her disheveled appearance. It appears the conclusion she came to was that the two of us had been doing…things. Probably the same things she had in mind to have done to her tonight as well if I was reading the atmosphere tonight.

Due no doubt to his own experiences with me, Guiche surprisingly enough came to the right conclusion. "Another training session, you two?" Guiche looked at Louise with an expression of complete sympathy. He had come out of his own lessons looking much the same. Only he tended to have bruises as well.

"Guiche," Louise said in a commiserating tone. "I have come to have the greatest of respect for your endurance and perseverance. My opinion of you has risen substantially." The two closed their eyes and nodded their heads in understanding.

"Hmph," I snorted, a little put out by their attitudes. Okay, maybe I tended to get a little rough, but was it really that bad? They both were the ones asking for it, quite literally. "The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war," I told them both, my tone aggrieved.

"So what happens when you bleed in peace?" Guiche asked dryly, thinking back to his encounters with Torashinai and shuddering.

"The more you bleed in peace, the less you die in war," I told him primly, and he grimaced at that. Considering he was the son of a famous general, there was a good chance he was going to be seeing action of his own in the upcoming conflict between Tristain and Albion. It looked like his appreciation for my lessons grew a little at that.

Louise on the other hand, had her own priorities at the moment. She eyed the glass in Guiche's hand thirstily. "Do you mind?" she asked plaintively, reaching out for it. Seeing her state, Guiche smiled benignly.

"Please," he said, offering the glass to the thirsty girl. Besides him, Montmorency suddenly 'eeped', looking nervous. Probably upset that Guiche was apparently showing interest in another girl again. He did have a history of being quick to glance in other directions. This time though I was positive that his only motivation was sympathy for a fellow sufferer.

Gratefully, Louise took the wine and threw it back in one steady gulp. Turning to glance at me, probably to offer me a drink as well, she suddenly froze and dropped the cup. With a concerned eye I looked her over. Was she really that tired? I thought she'd have rested up a bit by now. It looked like she was. Her face had turned incredibly red, no doubt from her exertion, and her eyes were wide and misty. She was probably keeping them open in order to avoid falling asleep where she stood.

"Shirou," she whispered at me sounding strange. It looked like she was still out breath.

"Louise, we really should get you to bed," I tell her, concerned. "It would probably be best if you held off on the bath till the morning. It wouldn't do for you to fall asleep in the water and drown."

"Yes," she said. Was she panting? "It would probably be better if I was put to bed hot and sweaty." With a concerned eye, I leaned forward to pick up the discarded wine glass, and then shot up like an arrow.

Did Louise just pinch my butt?

Montmorency was eying the whole situation with a nervous expression. She was probably upset that we were still around and interrupting her private time. Guiche had already moved to refill his wine glass, turning back to the blond and dismissing the two of us completely.

"Shirou," Louise told me, clinging to my arm even tighter then she was before. "I've decided that I would prefer to be carried to bed now. Hurry please. Take me now," she said, and with a worried look I complied. If she was so tired that she was willing to be seen being carried even by the other students then she must be exhausted. She shouldn't be pushing herself.

*Scene Break*

"Siesta," I said the next morning. I had been up since dawn, looking for the maid. She had returned the same time as Louise and I had, and for the last few days she'd been looking at me with the same wide eyes she had given me the first time I put Guiche in his place. I was hoping they would wear off eventually like they had before and had been giving her space. Unfortunately space was no longer an option.

"Shirou," she said happily, and then saw my face and her expression turned to worry. "Shirou! Are you alright? You look exhausted." She flounced over quickly, abandoning the mop she had been using on the floor in a heartbeat. With one hand covering her mouth in concern, she lifted the other to hover around the dark bags under my eyes. "What time did you get to bed?"

My eye twitched at the word 'bed'. "Oh. I got to bed fairly early actually." Got to bed, yes. Got to sleep? Not quite so easily. "Listen, Siesta, I have a fairly important question."

"Oh?" she asked, her eyes widening in surprise, and then a blush started to spread on her cheeks. I could almost see the thought process. Trouble sleeping plus important question equals marriage proposal.

Normally I would feel a little regret for shattering her hopes so ruthlessly, but this was important enough to warrant me not caring for once. "In this world, are there such things as love potions?"

"Eh?" she asked, completely unready for my non sequitar. "Well, yes," she admitted, but then hurriedly shook her head. "But I would never dream of using such a thing on you! I don't care how often my cousin tries to get me to, it's illegal!"

Wait, what was this about a cousin? Eying the suddenly blushing Siesta who was covering her mouth with horror at having revealed that this was a potential option in her book I asked for confirmation about one part. "So they're illegal? You're sure of this?"

"Yes," she nodded, focusing on that part of her accidental confession gratefully. "Any potion that changes the heart or mind of a person is illegal. Even nobles aren't allowed to use them." Now looking at me curiously she finally asked the question that had no doubt been circling her mind. "Shirou, why are you so curious about these kinds of things all of a sudden?"

Without another word, I turned around. There, firmly attached to my back in a bear grip that I wasn't certain I could break was Louise. She was too busy nuzzling my back while blushing and occasionally emitting kittenish mewing sounds to be paying too much attention to her surroundings.

"Eh?" Siesta said, her arms dropping to her side as she gawked at the usually composed pinkette continued to ignore the world happily so that she could continue making me uncomfortable. "Louise? H-how? W-when?" she finally stuttered. I didn't blame her. Though Louise and I were close, there had never been any indication or overtone of affection beyond camaraderie. This was definitely not camaraderie.

"Last night," I told the gaping maid. "I'm pretty sure I figured out how too."

"She's been like this all night?" Siesta cocked her head to the side. Now that she had gotten over the shock, there was something perversely amusing about watching Louise act like this to her no doubt. The two's friendship was a strange one by the standards of their culture due to the distance in status, but now that it had been formed Siesta was free to indulge in one of the privileges of their bond: taking delight in watching a friend act like an idiot while under the influence of something mind altering.

"Yes," I ground out, my eye twitching. "All night."

"Does that mean…" Siesta's eyes widened and she sent me an accusing glare.

"No," I answer frankly. "But not for lack of her trying. I have no idea where she got some of the ideas for the things she proposed, but I'm fairly shocked that a sheltered noble would know of them."

"Oh?" Siesta suddenly blushed a little bit, glancing to the side. "Well, I might have been loaning her some of my books," she shyly admitted, unable to meet my eyes as she did so.

"Did any of your books involve a riding crop, a bridle, and sixteen feet of silk rope?" I asked somewhat sarcastically.

"That would be A day in the Butterflies Court," Siesta nodded instantly. It was my turn to stare at her.

"And which book had the three broomsticks, a leather belt, and the entire tea set in it?" I finally asked, unable to resist the morbid curiosity that had arisen in me.

"That would be A Country Maid in the Hall of the Duke," she said shyly, rubbing her fingers in front of her as her blush threatened to turn electric. "It's my favorite," she admitted quietly.

"Siesta!" Louise finally piped up. She had apparently tried to change the cheek she was rubbing against me to the other side and caught wind of the fact that her friend was nearby. "No!" she gasped, and tightened her grip on me enough to make me worry about whether or not I'd be able to continue breathing. "He's mine!"

"But Louise," Siesta whined, apparently not being able to let the challenge go, despite the fact that it was obviously one made while in an altered state of mind. "I was after him first," she declared cutely, stomping her foot for emphasis.

"Hmmm," Louise apparently gave it serious consideration, before glancing at me. "Well, if Shirou expects that kind of thing, I suppose we can share," she muttered.

The twitch in my eye came back. It brought friends. They went to my other eye.

"Really?" Siesta gasped, apparently forgetting the fact that Louise wasn't in her right mind at the moment, and that she didn't really speak for me in the first place. "You mean, every other night?"

"Well, if you want to share that way," Louise nodded, though she sounded disappointed. "I was thinking…"

Siesta looked like she had figured out what Louise was proposing, and fainted on the spot.

*Scene Break*

"Monmon," I said as I knocked on the door to her room loudly. "Open up. Now."

"Now see here, commoner," Montmorency snapped from the other side of her door. "I will not be spoken to in such a manner!"

Another voice echoed from inside. "Sir Emiya? Why would you be seeking Montmorency?"

Well, either Guiche got lucky, or just didn't know when he was better off giving them space. Considering whom it was I was talking about, it was probably latter.

When the door opened so that an angry looking Montmorency could attempt to scold me, I interrupted her. "Fix this," I told her clearly. 'This' was Louise. I had finally managed to pry her off my back, and was now firmly holding her off the ground by the back of her mantle and shirt. Rather than take offense at my man handling, she just leaned her head back so she could rub it against my fingers, and was smiling happily with her eyes closed. She had both her hands clasped under her chin and both her feet kicked back girlishly.

"Ah," Montmorency said, and quickly glanced down and to the right. "I don't know what you're talking about," she began, and behind her Guiche looked at the scene in confusion obviously having no idea just what was going on.

"The love potion you were trying to slip Guiche last night in his drink," I reminded her, not having the patience for her attempted protest of innocence. Guiche's eyes shot open as he glanced to Montmorency to see if my accusation had any truth to it. Without giving her a second to answer, I pushed past her into her room. "The one he accidentally gave Louise when she asked for his drink. Fix it."

Montmorency huffed, probably more upset both by the fact that she had been found out and revealed and that I was being so rude then that she had just drugged one of her schoolmates.

Guiche, unsurprisingly seemed to take it as a compliment. "My beautiful Montmorency," he declared, passionately. "If you feel so strongly that you would attempt such a thing, then there is no need to worry." He leaned forward, gripping her chin with one hand, turning her face to his. Her eyes staid lowered with a delicate blush on her features. "I am already a slave to your beauty, Montmorency 'the Fragrance'."

She flushed deeper, and her voice came in a whisper. "It's just, I worry that someone will tempt you away from me," she admitted. Their faces began to inch towards each other. It looked like Guiche was finally about to get some.

Or he would have, if I didn't shove the still happily mewing Louise between the two of them. "Fix this," I told her again.

Montmorency sighed, and Guiche murmured something about inelegance. I didn't care. I'd care when my Master wasn't currently being controlled by some kind of horrific draught of lust. I'd care when I didn't have to fear sleeping because I might wake up with my Master attempting something kinky on me again. I'd care when I hadn't been up for nearly twenty four hours.

"It'll wear off on its own," she told me with a shrug. I let loose a little sigh. At least there was that.

"When?" I asked firmly. I needed to know if I was going to have to get myself fitted with a chastity belt.

"Six months to a year," she admitted sounding embarrassed.

Guiche suddenly seemed a lot less complimented, and a whole lot more nervous. He glanced nervously at Louise, who was still apparently absolutely content with me doing nothing more than holding her by her mantle, and then he swallowed nervously. With a quick glance at Montmorency, I could almost physically see him make the resolution to never let her cook for him. Ever.

It seems his survival instincts, so long thought non-existence, had awakened from their dormancy.

"Not good enough. Fix this. Now," I inform her. She looked aggrieved.

"I can't. Most of the ingredients are expensive, so I only have a limited supply of them," she huffed, not willing to part with her potion supplies for something she didn't consider too terribly important. "And I'm completely out of the most important element. It'd be nearly impossible to get."

"I see," I said. "If that's how it is, then I guess you're right. I only have one course of action available."

"Yes," she said, closing her eyes and nodding. "You'll just have to bear with it for a bit. I'm sure she'll be fine in a few months."

"Bear with it?" I asked, honestly confused by the strange idea. "Why would I do that?"

"But you just said you only had one course of…" she opened her eyes so she could level an aggravated stare at me and then froze. "Where did you get a sword? And why does it fill me with such terror and dread?"

"My one course of action is of course to relieve my frustration at the situation by killing you," I explained. "I'm pretty sure that since love potions are completely illegal, and that Louise's family is so powerful, and that by the standards of your country it could be written off as the action of a concerned familiar so I'd be forgiven almost instantly. Then I could probably hunt down your family and get the money from them in order to hire someone else to complete the antidote."

I glanced at the sword in my hand. I hadn't remembered tracing it specifically, but it fit my mood. It was one of the Masamune cursed blood drinking swords. They were the greatest works of one of the greatest sword smiths in all of Japanese history. He had poured his soul into the creation of ten perfect blades. And since he put so much of himself into their creation, they had achieved a limited sort of sentience, called 'the awareness of steel'. Unfortunately, since they were so perfect as weapons they were used quite often by skilled swordsmen. Almost since the day of their creation, each of the swords was used almost constantly for killing. And with their limited sentience, they grew to like killing. They thirsted constantly for blood, drawing it into themselves, feasting on it to support their hideous will to murder.

Consequentially, they were almost impossible to use. They warped the air around them with their potent blood-lust, and most who wield them are instantly overcome by it and driven into a killing frenzy. Normally, I would have to fortify myself in order to resist this hideous prerogative.

Now I was just selecting the target.

"Wait a sec!" Montmorency begged, suddenly very unnerved by the situation. "She just accidentally took a potion meant for someone else. Is that any reason to kill me?"

"Considering the potential damage on her reputation, I think it constitutes an attack on her," I explained. "I could probably challenge you to a duel, but even if we obeyed the formalities, we both know how it'd end, so it'd just be simpler for everyone involved if I just killed you now." Louise chose that moment to speak up, looking back at me with wide innocent eyes.

"Shirou," she said, sounding very much like an insecure girl rather than the confident and powerful mage I had slowly been watching her grow into. "Is the reason you won't love me because my breasts aren't big enough?" She reached down and started to massage her chest. "It can't be that, right? You don't care about breast size, don't you?"

"Not particularly," I soothed her through gritted teeth. "I've told you that I'm already spoken for, haven't I? I just don't want to be a cheater. You don't want me to be a cheater, like Guiche, do you?"

"No," she admitted, glancing down, apparently not noticing the presence of the one we were talking about, nor the presence of the one who had done this to her. Then she looked back up at me, clenching both her hands into fists under her chin as she started to cry. "But what about when I offered to share you with the maid? Don't you like that kind of thing?"

It was my turn to gape. Where on earth did she get an idea like that?

"S-s-she offered to share?" Guiche gasped, and Montmorency gawked at Louise.

"H-h-how indecent!" the blond gasped.

"How marvelous," Guiche sighed. When Montmorency turned to glare at him he quickly corrected himself. "I meant monstrous! How monstrous!" he tried to cover himself.

"Monmon," I ground out, the sword still in my hand and now shaking with the urge to kill. The only reason I hadn't was because I really, REALLY, would rather have the old Louise back. "Fix this. Now. Or else."

*Scene Break*

"So after we summon this 'Water Spirit' we just need to make it cry?" I asked Montmorency. After she had explained that the ingredient she was missing was an item called 'Tears of the Water Spirit' she had volunteered to go get some straight from the source. Well, volunteered might have been a strong word for it: desperately suggested that she go get some while staring wide eyed at the evil sword lusting for her blood might be a better way to put it.

The source itself was a day's ride away at a place called Ragdorian Lake. It was a large and famous body of water that rested on the border between Tristain and Gallia. When we arrived we had found that the lake water had risen considerably since the last time Montmorency had been here. From where we stood at the edge we could make out an entire submerged town through the crystal clear water.

"It's only called a tear. It's actually just a small part of its body," she explained, as she performed the ritual to summon the spirit. She had produced her own familiar, a small bright yellow frog, and after having placed a drop of her own blood on the little thing she had sent it down to seek out the spirit.

"So then we just need to engage it in fierce battle until we carve off a piece of it," I concluded. Thoughtfully I stroked my chin, thinking about what weapon to use. "You two are going to be pretty much useless for this, so I'd recommend you stay back."

"What?" the female blond stared at me, apparently dumbstruck that I was actually preparing to do battle with the spirit. The other blond, Guiche just sighed and rubbed his head. He found my response to be much more typical of what he knew of me. "No, we don't attack it! If we did that it might break off all contact with my family! Then we'd never be able to get spell components or negotiate with it again!"

"So then we have to bargain with it?" I said slowly. Alright. I could do that. It wouldn't be the first time I'd had to haggle with some kind of semi-divine inhuman entity.

When the spirit itself emerged my eyes narrowed as I took it in. It rose as an amorphous blob of water, but even in such an unimpressive state, the sheer cool press of its power made itself known in its presence. It was like humidity, a heavy press of moisture in the air, but without the accompanying heat that humidity was usually found in.

This was definitely a divine being alright. I was relieved that I wouldn't have to do battle with it.

"I am Montmorency Margarita La Fere de Montmorency," the blond haired water user spoke up. I raised an eyebrow. She had the same first name as she did last name? No wonder everyone just called her Montmorency. "I am a user of water, and a member of the lineage of the old oath. If you understand my words, answer in a way that we understand."

The mass of water began to shift itself, reforming like an ice statue melting in reverse. It finally settled on the form of a giant naked Montmorency, something that immediately perked Guiche up. Louise, who had been standing behind me, leaning against my back and rubbing her face against me like a cat again noticed as well, and she pouted that I seemed to be paying more attention to the powerful inhuman entity. I caught sight of this right when she started to open her mouth to complain. In order to keep her quiet, I began petting her head like I would a kitten. Her eyes closed and she started to hum happily. It would have been cute if it wasn't so disturbing.

"I recognize you, insignificant one, by the water in your veins. In accordance with the pact, I have appeared. Speak." The face of the spirit changed as it spoke. Its expression shifted from understanding, to joy, to sorrow, to curiosity, without making the accompanying facial shifts a normal person would. It simply flowed, reshaping itself into each expression. As it spoke, its mouth didn't move either. Wherever it was emitting noise from, it certainly wasn't the same place us mortals used.

It looked like it was willing to listen. Time to see how good Monmon was at negotiation.

"We seek a piece of your body, great spirit," she boldly stated, taking a strong opening stance. That was good.

"Refused," the water spirit said off hand. That was bad. How would Monmon counter?

"Is that so? That's unfortunate. Oh well," she shrugged, giving up instantly. I gaped at her. That was what she considered negotiating? "We'll be heading back now."

I glared at her when she turned around, and she suddenly remembered just what was waiting for her if she failed. She looked like she was tempted to turn around and try again, but apparently her fear of the water spirit was greater than her fear of me.

"And you call that negotiating," I muttered, and then stepped forward boldly. "Great Water Spirit!" I called in a loud tone, and the spirit turned to face me this time.

Montmorency turned red, and desperately grasped my arm. "Don't! You'll anger it!"

"Let me show you how to negotiate with a divine entity," I muttered back to her, shaking her off. There were two important steps to remember when trying to get a favor from something which literally existed in a higher state than yours.

The first: don't be afraid to grovel shamelessly.

Falling to my knees and lowering my head till it nearly rested on the ground, I continued to address the spirit. "Great Water Spirit. Though it inconveniences you, still I must request it. My need for your tear is great. I beg again, is there no task that might be accomplished, no service that might be performed that would compel you to favorably part with so small a piece of yourself?"

The second: they love favors. They always have some small thing that needs accomplishing, or some minor task that they just never got around to doing. If you're willing to take care of something like that, then nine times out of ten, they're willing to go along with a deal.

Of course, the last time out of ten they just get annoyed and then you have to fight them off while they try to kill you for your insolence.

I kept my head down, waiting for a response. Behind me, I heard three voices gasp. Taking that as a sign that something had happened, I glanced up carefully.

The water spirit had closed the distance between it and me significantly. Whereas before it had been standing several hundred yards from the shoreline, it was now no more than a dozen from the edge. The same distance that I was from the water. Its expression was shifting rapidly, nearly too rapidly for me to make out what it was attempting to express.

"Very well, Custodian," it said, addressing me directly. Custodian? What in the Root could it mean by that? "There is a task that I need accomplished. I am being attacked nightly, by ones of your kind. If you repel these assaults, then I shall honor your request."

"But I hate fights," Montmorency whined childishly.

"Shut up," I told her bluntly. Turning back to the water spirit that had remained patiently awaiting my response, I addressed it more politely. "It shall be done."

*Scene Break*

"I can't believe you're making me get involved with this," Montmorency pouted angrily. We had holed up in the trees along the shore line at the location where the water spirit had indicated it's attackers used as an entry point on the lake. I had scouted the area, found the most probable paths the attackers would use to make it to the area, and then found the best area for a potential ambush. The only thing left to do right now was waiting patiently till they arrived.

Guiche had already tried to start a fire in order to make the air that was growing chilly at the onset of night warmer, but I had shot that down. Ambushers don't have readily visible fires. He had tried to argue about it, but I had convinced him otherwise by tracing Torashinai and informing him that if he really wanted to warm up, then exercise would help. He now sat meekly, waiting patiently and eying me carefully, trying to decide if him moving would set off my apparently very short temper at the moment.

Louise hadn't cared at all. Well, she hadn't cared after I had let her sit in my lap. She was now sleeping peacefully, a happy look on her face.

The only one who wasn't treating this sanguinely was Montmorency, whom seemed determined to complain about every little thing I forced her to do that she didn't want to.

"I can't believe you'd think I wouldn't make you get involved," I countered back at her, keeping most of my attention on surroundings, searching for signs of my prey.

"It's not that big a deal," she tried to argue. "It'll ware of in a few months. I'd think you'd like it. You're always shamelessly calling her your master. I would think you'd like having her more affectionate…" She trailed off, eying Guiche curiously. Half way through her little diatribe he had begun frantically making a motion at his neck, trying to warn her to shut up. "What are you doing?" she asked him, perplexed. He glanced once in my direction, and then promptly abandoned valor and scooted himself so that a tree was between him and the two of us. Not really comprehending why he would be doing something so strange, she turned back to me.

I was completely calm. There was no indication of anger on my body. In fact, I was smiling rather serenely. "First off," I said pleasantly, "this," I gestured at the girl in my lap, "is not my Master. This is the pathetic and lovesick broken shell that you're potion has changed my Master into. Tell me, what do you think I am, Montmorency Margarita La Fere de Montmorency?"

"You're just a commoner, a familiar," she said, her usually haughty tone that she used while addressing me slipping in the face of her curiosity at both my words and Guiche's actions.

"Wrong," I inform her, my smile turning thinner, my eyes beginning to narrow. "I am a Servant, a powerful warrior that has been called forth by a strong mage, my Master, to stand beside her in battle. I have neither the desire nor the inclination to waste my time attending to pathetic mewlings of spoiled school children such as you."

"Pathetic? Spoiled!" Montmorency gasped at my summation of her worth. Her face began to redden as anger over my address to her began to circumvent the caution that she had in my presence. "And what strong mage? All I see is Louise the Zero, and her zero familiar," she began to warm herself up for her attempt to put me in my place.

I on the other hand had had enough. Not only was she directly responsible for the situation, she was also getting too loud. She might give away the ambush.

With a one handed smooth motion I drew Derflinger and arched it through the space between us. Montmorency gasped, and then froze like a statue as one of her locks of hair separated. Across her cheek, a thin red line drew itself, as the flesh I cut began to bleed. I settled the blade across her neck. I was no longer smiling. I was no longer carrying any expression at all.

"Little girl," I spoke softly into the sudden silence. "Have you considered the consequences of your actions? What would have happened if Guiche had indeed drunk the potion like you intended? How long would you have been able to put up with him, if he was acting as you have seen Louise to have acted? How long until you would have sent him on his way, annoyed with his antics? I would suspect that it would have been still when he was under the affects of the potion. What would have happened then? Do you think he would have given up? Perhaps ended his life in despair over the unrequited love you have distilled in him? Or perhaps it would have consumed him, causing him to take you by force?"

Montmorency's eyes widened at the scenarios I painted. I continued, my voice still as soft as moonlight, and as cold as ice. "How about what would have happened to Louise, had I not been able to sniff your deed out? Would she have further shamed herself attempting to woe me? What damage might she have done to herself, her reputation, to her family's reputation? What limits, so intoxicated by your poison might she have found?"

My sword sawed lightly against her neck, not breaking her skin, and she began to tremble. "You are a conceited, shallow, self absorbed little princess, Monmon. When your plan failed, you attempted to deny it, so as to prevent yourself from bearing any burden from it. When it was discovered, you attempted to dismiss it, washing your hands of it entirely. And now that you are being forced to confront your actions, you are attempting to belittle it, denying its relevance."

My lips twitched as the fury I was struggling to contain could no longer be fully repressed. "How contemptible," I echoed the words I spoke once, some time ago to the other person in this field. Guiche had started to move when my sword had left my sheathe, but had frozen half way to the aid of his erstwhile girlfriend, unsure of just what it was he could possible do to help when a sword already rested against her. "Even if it is the first time in your sheltered life that you have been forced to do so, I shall have you take responsibility for this act. Either through amendment," I glanced at the lake, indicating the water spirit and its tear that we needed for the antidote, "or through atonement," and this time my gaze settled on my sword, leaving no doubt in her mind what atonement would be.

"Sir Emiya," Guiche spoke up, and I glanced over at him, not removing my sword. Cold sweat had broken out on his face, but he stood resolute. At least till my eyes rested on him. Then he gulped once, loudly, wavered for a second, before catching himself and reaffirming his stance. "Sir Emiya, please, I ask of you to let me share Montmorency's punishment." He looked like he almost fainted saying that, but continued. "It was in part my own weakness which drove her to such measures. If perhaps I had been less unfaithful, or more honest in my dealings with her, then she might never have tried such an endeavor." He stood rigid as he spoke. There was none of his usual posturing or extravagance. It looked like he was scared shitless.

Despite myself, a small smile grew on my face. Unlike the cold one that promised violence I had been bearing a second ago, this one was tinged with pride. "You've changed, Guiche de Gramont. My Master was correct in raising her opinion of you." I took the sword from the shaking girl's neck, ignoring the tears that filled her eyes and the blush that had spread across her face as she stared up at her savior with wide eyes. Guiche didn't even notice. The moment my eyes were off him he had shrunk down, having apparently reached the end of his endurance in the face of my regard. Noticing her astonished stare, he gave her a weak smile.

I took my eyes from the little drama that had developed around us to check on the ambush. Naturally, the moment my eye was taken from the clearing, the assailants had shown up. There were two of them, one tall and one much shorter. Probably a man and woman combination.

I raised one hand, calling the attention of the two of them. When no one responded, I glanced over to see what was holding them up. Guiche was holding Montmorency's hands in his, staring down passionately into her eyes. She was glancing up, blushing demurely. Their lips were slowly lifting towards each other.

Normally, I wouldn't care. But as long as the pink haired girl in my lap was trying to get something, no one around me was getting anything. I threw a rock at the two of them.

When Guiche yelped, and turned to glare at me, I put a finger to my lips and indicated towards the targets. He glanced over, seemed to fight an internal battle, glancing back at Montmorency and then towards the target, before sighing and prioritizing. Monmon flushed brightly, and flinched away when I pointed at her next. With a roll of my eyes I pointed at Louise, still cuddling in my lap, and then back at her. Moving slowly, as though if she got within arm's reach I might finish the job I had threatened her with earlier, she finally took the still sleeping girl from my lap.

I turned back to Guiche who had drawn next to me. "What do we do?" he asked me, looking nervous from approaching violence.

"I'll take the initiative," I told him. "I'll circle around to the far side. I want you to stay on this side, circle towards the lake as well. If they attempt to flee, I want them to do it into the forest, away from Monmon and Louise. I'll attack first. Keep an eye on them, note their elements. Don't take any action unless I'm either defeated, or give an order. I want you to blindside them completely."

"I understand, Sir Emiya," he nodded.

I turned to give him a brief measuring look. "No repeats of the orc thing, Guiche. Follow the plan." He nodded again, looking sheepish at his track record and nodded again. Without another word, I disappeared into the night.

I moved, quick as I could. That wasn't as quick as I would have wanted, but in the dark even my reinforced eyes could miss things. The two targets had stopped at the lake shore and had begun chanting. It was no easy thing to attack the water spirit in its home. They would have to prepare themselves well in order to be able to able to safely strike at the more powerful spirit. I was counting on their prep time to allow for my own.

In a sweeping movement similar to the one I had used against Louise in our training, I finally cleared the trees, and keeping low to the ground, I started my assault. Charging forward over the clearer ground of the shore, as quietly as I could I had covered half the distance before they noticed. When they did, they reacted like pros.

The first one, the taller one, launched a streak of fire at me. With the distance between us I had ample time to dodge to the side. I could have blocked with Derflinger, but I wanted to save the swords magic drinking skills as a last resort, a trump. With their attack launched, I upped my speed. I knew it would take a moment for the caster to recover, and I banked on that being enough time for me to close in and cut them down.

Unfortunately, the two kept reacting like pros. The moment the fire missed, they were already rotating. Keeping their wand out, the taller one turned, the smaller one stepping with them so that they made a half rotation. The tall flame user was now facing away, covering their back even as they began their next spell. Now the shorter one was facing me, and they had already prepared a spell. This time ice lanced at me. With the shorter distance, I didn't have as much time to dodge, but since the spell itself was launching solids at me the open space between the individual attacks being launched was safer then when facing the fire spell. Fire could damage just from its proximity, the icicles had to be a direct hit. I slid between them, dodging all but one perfectly, and the last shot only nicked me. I ignored the wound.

Now at close range, I prepared to launch my own attack. The two had continued the rotation and it was the fire wielder I was now about to strike. Flames lanced at me, and if it wasn't for the abilities of the sword in my hand I would have had to pull back in order to avoid being roasted. Instead I simply continued my strike. The flame blinded me for a moment, but I completed my swing, aiming for the place where the tall one had been moments ago.

When my sword failed to connect, I sprung to the side as fast as I could, assuming that the ice wielder would have prepared a spell to counter. Sure enough even as my vision cleared ice sank into the earth I had been standing on moments ago. I took stock of the changing situation. It appeared as though the moment the flame user had cast their last spell the two had sprang apart, pushing off of each other in order to separate fast enough to avoid my blade. It had saved the taller one's life, but provided an opportunity of my own. The two had separated, and were no longer able to provide the perfect one two fire that they had been using.

"Guiche," I called. With his ambush added in, regardless of whichever one he chose as a target it would either be a two on one strike or a one on one strike against the two mages. If it was two on one, we should be able to finish the target quickly before the other mage recovered. If it was one on one, then Guiche would be able to distract the second mage long enough for me to finish my own target.

Guiche had chosen the smaller mage to assault with his bronze valkyries, I had chosen the taller one. Even as I closed in, the taller one said in a shocked female tone, "Guiche?"

I froze before my strike could be completed. I knew that voice. "Kirche?"

Another voice came from the wood line. "Shirou!" Louise cried, sounding worried, and she broke from the cover to run towards me.

"Montmorency!" Guiche chided the blond for letting the pink haired girl escape her.

"Louise!" Montmorency called, chasing after her escaped charge.

"Tabitha?" I asked, turning to the short mage, who pushed down the hood of her robe, revealing the little bluette, who stared at the scene that was evolving around her with restrained curiosity.

"What are you doing here?" Kirche, Guiche, Montmorency, and I all spoke up at the same time.

Tabitha just looked like she wished she had a book.

Louise had started snuggling against me.

"Wait," Kirche said, taking in the strange scene of Louise rubbing her face against my chest as she purred contentedly. "What the heck is wrong with Louise?"

"I woke up and you weren't there," my little Master said to me, ignoring the scene around her completely. She started sniffling. "I was so lonely! I can't be happy unless you're close to me! Never leave me alone when I'm sleeping again!" she pouted up at me with teary eyes.

"Wait," Kirche said again, now gawking at the surprising scene in front of her. "Does that mean…?"

"It's not what you think," I sighed, rubbing my forehead and trying to calm the little girl who appeared on the brink of sobbing.

"To think," Kirche said, staring with wide eyes at the two of us. "That your love would be capable of domesticating even a spit fire like Louise so thoroughly." Her expression began to redden, and she stood up, lifting a fist into the air in passion. "I must experience it for myself, Darling!" she declared, looking like she was about to initiate something right there on the lake sure in clear view of the others.

Louise appeared to notice the taller redhead, and managed to control her sniffling enough to respond. "Well," she grumbled, "okay."

"Wait, really?" Kirche stared at what had once been the single greatest impediment to her campaign of passion on me. I began to rub my head, already sensing where this was going, a peremptory headache launching itself.

"But you have to go second," Louise told the redhead, tightening her hold on my waist. "And I get to go first and third!"

"Deal!" Kirche jumped on the bargain instantly. "Is there a clearing or something around here?"

Tabitha, who had witnessed the whole debauched negotiation, somehow managed to produce a book to bury her face into. I had little doubt she was blushing.

"I just know the Root is to blame for all this," I muttered, ignoring the twitching in eyes that developed every time Louise offered to share me with someone returning. "I just know it."

*Scene Break*

With both Guiche physically restraining and Tabitha magically interjecting, we managed to keep Kirche from dragging me into the dark long enough to explain the magic potion, and how our quest for the last ingredient had brought us to the lake. In return Kirche had explained why they were attacking in the first place. It seemed that the water spirit had been raising the level of the lake for a while now, and due to the damage caused to the surrounding landscape, which apparently belonged to Tabitha's family, they had been sent to deal with it.

I had had to suppress a sigh at that point. It was such a typical divine spirit quest: never as simple as finishing someone off and calling it a day. They almost always had side quests. It was so universal an unwritten rule, that I wished someone would just write it down someday and get it over with.

And so we were now standing once more before the water spirit that Montmorency summoned, and again, I was called upon as the only one with any real experience negotiating with higher level entities.

"Great Spirt of Water," I began. "Those who have been attacking you have been stopped. In accordance with our agreement, may we now receive your tear?"

Without another word, the water spirit, still amorphous, detached a small part of itself. It hovered like a jewel, drifting closer to shore until finally it drew close enough for Montmorency to bottle it. The spirit began to sink back into the depths.

Now came the tricky part.

"Great spirit, if you would please linger a moment more, I have another request to make of you."

The spirit paused, and then rose once more. This time it actually took the time to trace a human form, once more that of a naked Montmorency. "Speak, Custodian."

"Though those who came on this day to defeat you have been dealt with, I fear there will be others," I informed it, and its body quivered like a tapped jello mold. Its face drifted fast between rage, anger, resignation, and disappointment. "It seems that the rising of the waters of your lake have caused much harm to the surroundings, and so the humans of this land have felt no other recourse but to attempt such things. If the waters would return to their rightful place, then there would be no more need for assaults upon you. Is there some task or action that could appease you, and give you cause to return once more to your natural state?"

The water spirit quivered again, and it drifted closer once more. It seemed that while other humans didn't rate its true attention, for some reason it was inclined to treat me more respectfully. "As your kind measures time, Custodian," it spoke, using its title for me, "two years past my most treasured possession was stolen from me. I raise the waters to search the land so that I might have it returned."

I froze. Heaven's blessed Feel and the twisty wrath of the Kaleidoscope. No wonder it was pissed enough to flood the land. The treasures of lake spirits aren't the kind of thing you ever want to mess with. Even if they were loaned out freely, failure to return at the proper time could end up with dire results.

"Then you only seek its return?" I asked for confirmation. "If you were to tell me of the treasure, and of what you know of the one who took it, then I shall endeavor to return it to you," I promised. Normally, I wouldn't go around making blanket promises like that, but the thought of something treasured by a lake spirit being in the wrong hands was enough to definitely warrant a little broadness of purpose.

"The treasure taken was the Ring of Andvari," the spirit spoke instantly. A fragment of its body detached, and shaped itself once more, this time into a clear ring. I wished it could have given the semblance of coloring, but I carefully memorized its shape anyway. It was distinctive enough that I would be able to identify it by that alone. "It bears the power to grant what you would call the semblance of life to those who have died."

Ugh. A ring with necromantic powers? I don't even want to know why it was considered a holy thing by the water spirit. "And the ones who took it?"

"I know only that one was called 'Cromwell'," the water spirit admitted.

"Cromwell," Kirche spoke up. I glanced back to see her stroking her chin with one finger, looking deep in thought. "Wasn't that the name of the new emperor of Albion?"

"There could be other people named 'Cromwell' in the world," Montmorency pointed out casually.

"Nonetheless," I interrupted the peanut gallery, turning back to the water spirit. "Thank you, great spirit." I bowed, assuming that would be the end of the conversation.

Surprisingly, the water spirit spoke again. It was the first time it had directly began a conversation rather than just responding. "Custodian, you have proven trustworthy in the past. Now it is I who might ask you a favor."

Okay. That could either be very good or very bad. Behind me Montmorency gasped. I could understand the feeling. Higher level entities rarely had reason to take note of us lowly mortals. We were as beneath them as bugs are beneath us. If one takes notice, well, it generally means something serious.

"Ask, great spirit," I said cautiously, trying to disguise just how unnerved I really was. "If it is within my power or my ability, I shall attempt it." Never promise to succeed. They'll hold you to it.

"I would see the treasure that you too carry, Custodian," it said bluntly. Its face shifted quickly between anticipation, to sorrow, to regret, to joy.

The treasure I carry? But what could it mean…

Oh. A lake spirit, calling me Custodian, and requesting to see a treasure which I carried.

The others were staring at me, even Louise, though her gaze was more affectionate than curious or shocked like the rest. My face was as expressionless as it would be before entering combat.

"I know of which you speak, great spirit of water," I said, my voice soft. "Though I did indeed bear such a treasure, it has been many years since I returned it to the one it was entrusted to. And it has been many years since that since it has been returned to the one who entrusted it to them. I fear I cannot honor your request."

The lake spirit rippled, from the tip of its borrowed head to the bottom of its borrowed feet. Its expression was shifting so fast that I couldn't even identify the individual emotions it was trying to convey. "Nonetheless, you still carry it, Custodian," it said, its voice unaffected by its apparent emotional strife.

"Indeed, I carry it with me," I admit. "But it is only a seeming. If such a pale imitation would be enough to satisfy you, spirit, then I can present that to your care, though it shall only last for a handful of hours." Explain it all up front, so that if I ever came back here, it wouldn't come down on me like the wrathful god it was when it disappeared on it.

"That shall be enough," it acknowledged. "For me, all time is the same. The future is the past is the presence. An instant is an eternity, and an eternity is an instant."

I glanced back at the others. None of them had any idea what the two of us were talking about, and as much as I prefer to keep it that way, in order to honor the spirits request, it looks like I was about to show something I honestly never wanted anyone to ever see.

Addressing the others, I spoke softly. "Never speak of what you are about to see again. Never. Do you understand?" I favored them with a cold stare, and then turned back to the water spirit before giving them a chance to respond.

Still kneeling in front of the spirit, I hold my two hands out as though presenting a sword that wasn't there.

Trace on.

"I am the bone of my sword. Steel is my body, and fire is my blood. I have created over a thousand blades, whilst unaware of life nor being aware of death."

The sheathe I called to my hand was easy. It was the one item I knew every bit as good as myself. It was as much as part as me as my skin, my muscles, my organs, the very cells in my body. The sword that came with the sheathe was another matter. Sweat broke out on my forehead as I called its image, imagined the materials, the composition, the history, and the powers of it. It took time, far too much time to use in combat to trace. I could have slap-dashed it. Even if I flubbed in its creation, brought it forth wrong or simplified, it still would have been more than most swords could dream of being. But for this blade, I would accept nothing but perfection.

A broad sheathe formed, wrapped in blue and gold. Within it lay a sword. The hilt was simple, yet exquisite, and the handle of the blade was wrapped tight in blue leather. With the greatest of care, I cracked seal, releasing the blade no more than three inches from the embrace of the sheathe.

"What is that?" Guiche whispered from behind me. His voice coarse, as though he couldn't manage more than a horse whisper in the presence of the blade. That wasn't surprising. The sheer presence of the sword was every bit as discernible as the presence of the water spirit. The difference was in the texture. The water spirit was as though moisture had enveloped the air. The blade was simple pressure. The sheer weight of its magnificence, of its power was enough to bring the unprepared to their knees.

I presented the sword to the spirit of water, and its entire form shivered once more. It moved to the very edge of the water, stopping at the shore. Taking the wordless hint, I too rose and approached to stand opposite it. It raised its hands to me, and I delivered the projected blade to its arms. For the briefest of seconds, my fingers traced the simulated fingers of the spirit, and then the sword was in its arms. It cradled the blade to its chest, and then the sheathed weapon flowed into its chest, penetrating its form like the water it was.

"For granting me this," the water spirit said, "both you and all your descendants shall always enjoy my favor." Again, a gasp emitted from behind me.

"But that's impossible!" Montmorency looked like she was about to have a seizure. "It's nearly unheard of to get the spirit to enter into contract! Even my family isn't sure how our contract was created initially! It doesn't just give that kind of favor away!"

Again, the spirit began to slip away. Deep within its form, the sword and sheathe circled gently within it, perfectly upright as it spun slowly on its axis.

"Please wait, spirit," another voice spoke up. I glanced at the speaker in shock. It was Tabitha. This was quite possible the first time I'd ever seen the bluette initiate a conversation. When the water spirit paused, the little blue haired girl continued, her voice as soft as it always was. "We humans have always called you the 'spirit of oath'. Is it because of what you said? That you experience all time so strangely?"

"Yes, insignificant one, that is the reason your kind speaks oaths in my presence," its voice rang as it always did, but the expressions its face flickered through so rapidly were beginning to include impatience. I think it had just about reached its tolerance for the presence of humans for one night.

"Because your presence is eternal, you will always remember our oaths," Tabitha whispered, and then went to one knee, closing her eyes. Kirche, looking at the kneeling girl with understanding, placed one hand her friend's shoulder. It seemed that there were circumstances with the blue haired girl that I wasn't aware of, yet Kirche was. It didn't bother me. Everyone had secrets, and it wasn't my place to seek out those that belonged to others.

The water spirit began to sink into the water, and this time no one moved to stop it. While it sank into the depths, I kept my eyes locked on the sword encased within its form. It evoked within me bittersweet feelings, memories that were never as deeply buried as I would ever admit. As the blade disappeared into the depths, I found my eyes sinking closed for one tired moment. When I reopened them, Louise was standing beside me, staring up with wide sad eyes.

"Shirou!" she declared, clenching her fists at her side. "Make an oath! Right now!"

I glanced away. I knew what she wanted me to say, what the potion within her was compelling her to desire. But that potion would be gone soon enough, with the acquisition of the final ingredient for the antidote. "I've already made an oath," I tell her softly.

"To the girl in blue?" she said, her eyes leaking tears. My eyes snapped towards her at that. The girl in blue? "That was her sword, wasn't it? You're lover?" she was crying freely. Her declaration froze me. How had she put that together? "Forget her, Shirou," she begged me, clutching my shirt desperately. "Love me! I won't make you so sad! I will never leave you like she did!"

In a flash, my finger was on her lips, stopping her. My finger was trembling, my whole body was shaking. I wasn't sure if it was anger, or shock, or just the stress of the day catching up. How? How had she known that! How had she…?

Suddenly, I knew. She had dropped enough hints over time, I had just never put them together: the way she knew that the one who taught me how to fight was also my lover, how she knew she wore blue, by the root, it was probably the reason she was so certain I wasn't concerned with breast size and wanted to have threesomes all the time.

"The dream cycle," I whispered softly. Her eyes were widened, looking scared and fragile as she looked up at me with my finger resting on her lips. "You've been experiencing the dream cycle, haven't you?"

Wordlessly, she nodded. She looked scared that this would make me angry, that it would make me leave her or hurt her. With a sigh, I instead embraced her gently. She welcomed it hesitantly.

"Shirou?" she whispered, surprised at my actions when she thought I'd be angry.

"I'm sorry," I instead tell her. "That must have been scary and strange for you to see sometimes." She sniffled, and wordlessly nodded against me.

"What on earth is going on?" Kirche asked, completely confused, and in fact worried about the sudden change in mood that had swept over the two of us. She looked like she wanted to put her hand on our shoulders just as she did Tabitha just a few moments earlier. It was a comforting thing to realize that despite her actions, she considered the both of us friends.

"The bond between Servant and Master is far stronger than that between familiar and summoner," I told her, feeling compelled to explain at least that much. "In sleep, they will experience things that the other has experienced, and see things the other has seen." I gave a sardonic snort, and leveled lidded eyes at the staring group. "You will also never speak of this again. Ever. Or else."

There was no threat in my voice. Only promise, a promise they could hear however veiled it was.

Giving them all one last look my eye settled on Montmorency. She shrunk back from me. She had never thought something like this would result from her little lark at attempting to attract a man. I had a feeling she would never be comfortable in my presence, and that she just might be terrified of me.

I was fine with that. With everything she had put me and my Master through because of her carelessness, I don't think I'd ever like her myself.

"Now," I said to her, still comforting the delicate pink haired girl embracing me. "I believe you have a potion to make."

Wordlessly, she nodded vigorously.

*Scene Break*

"We're going to have to talk about it eventually," I point out to my Master as we both sat awkwardly on opposite ends of a bench. Louise had both her elbows on her knees, and had buried her face in her hands. Between the slits of her fingers, I could make out her blushing.

"Murgle mumble, gurgle," she pointed out, her voice muffled by her palms. I nodded sympathetically.

"I know," I comforted her. "If it makes you feel any better, I figured it out pretty quick, so it wasn't like I thought what you did was really you."

"Grumblemumblegrrrrrr," she complained. "She peeked out from between two of her fingers, and then re-hid her face.

"Well," I acknowledged, "the first few propositions came as a shock to me. I didn't think you even knew about some of those things. I barely knew about some of those positions, and I'm still not sure they're even physically possible."

"Must," she grumbled, this time her voice discernible, "kill maid." She slumped forward a bit further at that.

"Now, to be fair," I pointed out. "She might have surprised you with the first one, but I'm pretty sure you knew what you were getting into when you asked to borrow the second book." She finished leaning forward until her head rested on her legs too, with her arms folded above her. "I've already made it perfectly clear to those responsible that something like this won't be tolerated again. And since it was summer, the only ones who actually saw you acting like that were made aware of the situation quickly." I was trying to cheer her up, but I wasn't sure how well I was doing. It seemed to work, as Louise finally peeked up at me, still covering most of her face with her arms and hair.

"Are you mad at me?" she asked plaintively.

"I already told you," I answered immediately. "It wasn't your fault. You were under the influence of some pretty impressive drugs." She shrank down smaller.

"Not about that," she insisted. She glanced down awkwardly. "About…that," she indicated vaguely.

I understood what she was talking about.

"No," I told her with a heavy sigh. "It was my fault for not preparing you for the possibility. I knew about the dream cycles. It just never occurred to me that they might happen here." This time it was my turn to feel awkward. Mastering myself, I turned to face her directly. "How much have you seen?"

Finally sitting up, Louise wasn't willing to sacrifice the protection her legs gave her and drew them up to her chest so she could wrap her arms around them. I knew she was already sixteen, maybe seventeen by now, but it didn't change the fact that Louise was very small. In the moonlight she very much resembled the child she still was in many ways.

"There were so many battles," she admitted. "When I first saw you fight Guiche, I could only think of how strong you were. I remember thinking that you were invincible. But every night, it was like an endless war. You were always getting so hurt. You won so many, but lost so many others." She glanced at me, her face said. "Do you know, in this world, they tell us that the best thing we can hope for is to win glory in battle? I was raised with my parents talking about dying for pride and honor. But when I see some of the things that have happened to you, I wonder just how important stupid things like that are, if it means that you have to go through what you have."

"Glory, honor, pride," I repeated softly. "Those are as good a reason as any other to fight." I leaned back stretching myself out as I glanced at the sky. "If there are a thousand people on a battlefield, there are a thousand reasons to fight. It's not right to judge another's reasons. If they truly believed in what they raised their blades for, then that should be enough."

Louise glanced down, digesting my words. "What do you fight for, Shirou?" she asked me quietly.

"My ideals, my duty, my oath," I listed softly. Louise looked up at me, her eyes soft with curiosity.

"Your oath," she said hesitantly. "The one you've already made. It's about her, isn't it?" When I nodded briefly, she continued carefully. "May I ask, what was it?"

"That I would search for her, until we are finally reunited on a hill of swords," I answered softly.

Louise was silent at that for a moment. If she had seen even a fraction of my interaction with my old Servant, then she should know just how delicate this subject was with me. By the Root, I can be assured that at least one of her dreams was about the two of us being intimate. The three of us, if I wanted to be technical about it. "May I ask," she finally began, her voice hesitant and hushed. "May I ask what her name was, your Saber?"

"Arturia. Arturia Pendragon," I told her closing my eyes. It was the first time in years that I had spoken that name out loud. It was the first time in that long that I even thought it. In my mind, she was always my Saber. Finally giving voice to it, after so long, I found myself longing to confide in my Master. "She was royalty, you know?" I asked, my voice laced with reminiscent. "She was my Servant, just like I am yours. When the time came that all the battles we had to face were finished, she had to return to her homeland." Her home time, to be specific. And to what awaited her there. "I didn't begrudge her that. She had duties there, and I would never forgive myself for keeping her from them."

"And instead of keeping her away from her duties by keeping her in your land, now you're trying to find hers," Louise concluded for me. I gave a small smile.

"Yes," I said. "Now I seek to join her where she is."

Louise was silent at that. So was I. Before this whole incident began, we would frequently have spells where the two of us would sit like this, not needing words between us. Our bond was forming, the kind of bond that can only be forged between those who fought beside each other, between those who were comfortable and assured of the other. It was the reason that my anger at Montmorency's thoughtless act was so great. Our bond was still fragile, and the memories of the way Louise had acted might have been enough to shatter it before it had time to properly forge itself.

Now though, the silence between us wasn't quite as comfortable as it had been, but it had the feel that it wasn't irreparable.

Finally, Louise spoke. She still had her legs up against her chest, but she was no longer hiding her face. "The Ragdorian Lake," she murmured changing the subject. "How nostalgic."

"You've been there before?" I asked, more for the sake of conversation than any real curiosity.

"Once, when I was thirteen. The princess was having a garden party there, and I was her company," it was her time to sound reminiscent. "I think that that was where the two of them met, princess Henrietta and prince Whales."

"That's it!" a voice behind us declared suddenly. The both of us started. I cursed myself for being so caught in the moment that I failed to keep track of the environment. One hand was darting for my sword even as I turned to see who it was that had spoken.

Behind us, kneeling behind a bush and carrying two tree limbs that she had apparently been using as camouflage was Kirche. Next to her, one hand with her own branch and the other with a book, was Tabitha.

"Were you spying on us!" Louise shrieked. She had been so startled that she had fallen of the bench.

"I just wanted to see the two of yours heartfelt reconciliation," Kirche explained while waving her hand as though brushing it off. "So did Tabitha," the taller redhead felt obliged to point out, gesturing at her companion. Tabitha lowered her face further into her book. She at least had the good grace to be embarrassed.

"Shirou," Louise said, still on the ground. Once more she raised her hand, clenched around her wand and twitching to the same tune that my eye was twitching. "Why didn't I let you kill her before?"

"Because however twisted it might be, the relationship the two of you share might loosely be considered friendship," I supplied, palming my own face.

"Oh pshaw," Kirche waved off our little dialogue easily. "Darling can't kill me yet. I still haven't seduced him."

"Oh, well, if that's the reason," I deadpanned. Louise closed her eyes and started rubbing her forehead.

"Anyway," Kirche said, dismissing her eavesdropping and our discussion on her murder, "you're story has moved me so, Darling!" she declared, fanning herself with one hand while fingering the edge of her blouse slowly. Beside her, Tabitha surprisingly nodded as well. "As such, I've decided that I too must seduce a member of royalty, and then be separated! Only then will I understand your fragile heart well enough to be able to mend it!" Kirche lifted one fist up, clenched at her ardent promise. Beside her, Tabitha shook her head this time, apparently not moved enough quite yet to go to such lengths.

"Well, a plan like that, how could it fail," Louise muttered with a sigh. I offered her a hand and she took it, righting herself.

"I know!" Kirche said happily, happy that Louise was apparently seeing her logic for once. "I was thinking prince Whales," she explained, rubbing her hands together as she plotted. "I saw him on the road while we were heading past the lake towards Tabitha's family's estate. You think he'd do?" she asked us.

Louise and I froze.

"That's impossible," Louise said. I remained quiet, watching the on goings now expressionlessly. "Prince Whales is dead."

"Hmmm? When did that happen?" Kirche asked, her head cocked to the side in curiosity. "I saw him on the road no more than two days ago, heading towards the capital of Tristain."

"He's dead," Louise declared firmly. "I was there when it happened. Are you sure you're not mistaken?"

"No," Kirche said, her voice suddenly serious. "I never forget a pretty face. That was definitely the lady killer of Albion." And once more, Kirche's amazing talents when it came to lining up her next target show sudden and unexpected practical use.

"Master," I said softly.

"Yes," Louise responded. She was sharp. Even in the grips of the love potion, she too remembered the conversations at the lake.

About a ring, that could raise the dead, and about who had it in their possession. And now, the newly coronated queen's dead lover was riding towards her, the lover that had died in the land now owned by the ring's thief.

"Tabitha," I said politely. "We need to borrow your dragon for a bit."

*Scene Break*

"Well, at least now I can be fairly certain where the ring of Andvari is," I muttered. We were flying fast, Sylphid reaching speeds I had never seen her reach before, along the trail between the capital of Tristain and the Ragdorian Lake. We had arrived at the palace to find it in mayhem. Our suspicions had been correct, princess Henrietta was missing. It had taken Louise showing the document she had received from the princess, some kind of appointment letter, to get the information we needed.

They were attempting to pursue the party that had abducted the princess towards La Rochelle, the port town. Our party had decided to cover the rest of the bases. Since the abductors had probably come from Ragdorian Lake, it seemed likely that they had an alternative exit strategy for getting out of the country. We were closing in fast in order to ensure that they never made it.

Tabitha had indeed lent Louise and I her dragon, but the price was that Kirche and herself came along too. Honestly, I had no objection to their company. The two of them had fought well against me at the lake, and we weren't strangers to working as a group in combat. Tabitha was an experienced professional, and for all Kirche's little quirks, she was a powerful mage that was able to work well in a group, making her a strong asset as well.

"It would be too convenient if it was only a coincidence that someone else named Cromwell had a ring that could raise the dead and the desire to use it in a way that would hurt a country that they were at war with," Kirche agreed. Her tone caused all three of us to glance over at her. What we found was a different Kirche then we were used to.

All flirtatiousness was gone. Her usual carefree expression, the one she had shamelessly worn when interrupting Louise and I in the middle of a bonding moment had been replaced by furrowed brows, and her lips were drawn back in a vicious snarl that showed her teeth. Her hand was closing and opening rhythmically on her wand.

"Kirche," Louise asked, sounding worried. "Are you alright?"

Kirche stole a page from my book. "No." she said shortly. "I hate the thought of it. The dead should stay dead. They shouldn't be able to get back up. Life should be like fire: hot and beautiful, and can never be rekindled the same once extinguished. The idea of someone being brought back…" she trailed off, letting loose the most unfeminine snarl I had ever heard from her.

Despite myself, I chuckled. "Damn straight," I agreed, my own snarl appearing. "The Dead are an abomination. I despise them more than just about any foe," I admitted. My own hand was following Kirche's lead, closing and opening on Derflinger's hilt.

For the first time in a while, Derflinger spoke up. "You sound like you have experience, partner," it commented. "Anything I should know?"

"You never ask for advice, Derflinger," I commented, a bit startled by that. One of the advantages of being six thousand years old was that Derflinger had been wielded against just about every enemy that exists. During our treasure hunting days, he had been a wellspring of information about many of the creatures we had fought that I had never heard of or seen before.

"I've never fought the dead," the sword admitted. It sounded nervous. "I'm not sure I want to. It feels a little spooky."

"Have you fought them before, Servant?" Louise asked, addressing me by my title for the first time since this whole debacle had started. Gone was the scared girl under the moonlight, and back was the strong willed Master that wielded me. It seemed all we needed to get over that little bump was a potential life or death struggle.

"Once," I admitted, grimacing. "In my homeland, sometimes there are magi who seek eternal life. It's an illegal practice, and all those who attempt it are rooted out and put to death. But occasionally, one is sneaky enough or smart enough to complete it. They become powerful undead things, that need the blood of the living in order to preserve their existence. They're called the Dead Apostles."

"And you fought one of them before?" Kirche asked looking to me for once without desire in her expression.

"Once. When they feed on the living, sometimes the victims die. Other times, they become creatures like the apostles themselves, albeit weaker in nature. Most of the time, they come back as mindless blood thirsty servants of the ones who fed on them." I spat over the side, trying to clear a bad taste from my mouth. "Whenever the servants feed, the ones who are fed on have the same fates awaiting them. It spreads like a sickness. In a matter of weeks the town that the apostle moves to can become entirely infected, devoid of all other life. It becomes a city of the dead."

"Okay," Derflinger spoke up, its voice shaking a bit. "You can stop there. Really, we don't need to know anything else. Right girls?" it asked plaintively.

"What was your experience?" Kirche asked, her voice unsympathetic to the tone of the sword.

"The ones who usually hunt down the apostles were understaffed. They didn't want to move until they had enough forces to be able to deal with the situation right the first time. But every day they waited was one that the apostle and its minions were killing. I volunteered to help, and then we went to clear a city of the dead." My own voice was flat, but my grip on Derflinger's hilt was so tight my knuckles were white. "We had to kill everything in the entire city, every infected man, woman, and child. By the time we had rooted all the minions out, the apostle who had started the whole thing had fled."

"That's horrible," Louise said softly, glancing away and hugging herself. I grimaced. It had been. I sincerely hoped that was one battle that she never found herself witnessing in her dreams.

"How do you stop them?" Kirche asked, leaning in. I'd said it before, but when that girl found her focus, she didn't let go till she got it. To not be that focus for once was refreshing.

"Don't bother with normal wounds, they'll just shrug them off," I told the group as a whole. "The best bet is to either burn them, or destroy them completely with one blow," I nodded to Kirche and Louise respectively at the appropriate tactic. "In your case, Tabitha, don't aim to injure, just try to pin them to the ground. If you can get enough stakes of ice holding them down, then they won't be able to move long enough for one of the rest of us finish them off."

"Understood," Tabitha murmured. She clenched her staff tighter, and I couldn't help but notice that she looked even paler than normal.

"What about you?" Louise spoke up. She had noticed I had left myself out of the appraisal, and was seeking the information she'd need for battle. I gave a sharp nod.

"I have weapons which should probably be able to finish them on their own," I admitted. "But since these dead are different from the ones of my home world, I can't be sure. If needed, I'll do the same as Tabitha: steak them to the ground and wait."

"Partner," Derflinger said. "If you use me to steak a walking corpse to the ground, I will never talk to you again." It then promptly slid itself tightly into the scabbard. I could feel the little quillion it used as a voice shaking.

I restrained a sigh. A sword afraid of the dead. What was the world coming to?

Louise nodded, and then Tabitha spoke up again. "Ahead," she said, and the three of us glanced to the front.

Strewn along the path were the dismembered corpses of what had probably been the original pursuit team. Many had limbs cut off, and laying around them were also the horses and griffins they had been riding originally. I studied the dismembered limbs as we approached. They looked clean, like they had been cut instead of chewed. That was a relief in my book. It meant they weren't likely to be standing up themselves.

We dismounted the moment we landed, and Tabitha whispered to Sylphid quietly. The blue dragon 'kyuui'ed, and then rose high into the sky, circling away. The four of us walked slowly through the corpses, myself in the lead, Kirche and Louise side by side, and Tabitha in the back. I kept one hand on Derflinger, despite the fact that the sword probably wouldn't let itself be drawn. I just wanted the power of Gandalfr flowing in case of ambush.

"It's quiet," Kirche whispered. I winced. Don't blame them, I thought to myself. They didn't have movies here. They couldn't know that a line like that was like an invitation. Besides, as long as no one finishes it….

"Too quiet," Louise muttered in agreement, and I sagged in despair.

Sure enough, moments later the ambush struck.

Tabitha moved, just a brief wave of her staff, but a wall of wind sprung up from around us. Magical attacks, wind by my estimation, brushed against it, and were deflected. The parried strikes flew around us, and the scenery they struck instead was cut deeply. That would explain the wounds.

From the scenery around us, six shapes emerged from their hiding places. They were dressed like nobles, albeit nobles who had seen better days. Their clothing, while for the most part immaculate, had places where it had been clearly cut, and was dotted with blood. Despite that, they were all unharmed. I spared a second glance at the fallen knights behind me. No way they would have gone down without at least bloodying a lip. That meant regeneration.

I grimaced. I hate the dead.

The six were smiling at us. More like leering. It was the kind of smile that bespoke of utter confidence in their own superiority, the smug grin that I've seen more than a few times on the nobles of this world when they regarded commoners. These undead bastards were looking down on us.

Keeping looking down. I'm not the one who already got himself killed once.

From in front of us, emerged two more figures. I recognized them both. One was a tall blond good looking male, wearing the same expression as the corpses. The last time I'd seen him was when my Master was kneeling over his body as I dueled her ex-fiancé. The other was female, also good looking, and wearing white.

"Princess," Louise raised her voice. "We've come to rescue you and return you to the castle."

"Rescue?" the corpse that had once been the prince of Albion said, his voice a sardonic sneer. "Why would she want to be rescued? She's with her love now."

"Princess," Louise said again, her voice louder now. Tabitha, Kirche and I stayed quiet. I don't think any one here, Louise included, expected negotiation to work. But still, she had to try. "Princess, he is not your love. He's a reanimated corpse, sent by Albion to kidnap you. Please, step away from it."

Instead of moving away, Henrietta instead gave a sad smile, and moved closer to her dead lover instead. "I know," she admitted, her voice tinged with self-loathing. "I know he's not the same. But I don't care. I can't care," she declared, her smile looking lost and pathetic. "Have you ever loved, Louise Francoise? Loved so strongly that it didn't matter what the one you loved did or became, just so long as you could be with them no matter the consequences?" Louise remained quiet, and Henrietta continued. "I made an oath, before the water spirit, that I would love prince Whales forever. Please, Louise, stand aside."

Louise didn't move. Henrietta narrowed her eyes at my Master's inaction.

"Stand aside, Louise Francoise. It is the last order I will ever give you."

Louise hesitated. No matter the circumstances, it was the princess herself giving her this order. The princess Louise had sworn to serve. Her eyes, drifted to the ground in doubt, but then rose to meet mine.

I had no advice to give. How could I? Henrietta was right. Louise had never known what it was to love, not like the princess had. Not like I had. If my Saber were here now, asking me to go away with her, would I be able to deny her and stay to perform my duties? Or would I abandon everything I had here, and leave with her as the princess was trying?

The only way I would know is if she were to appear before me. And I doubt I would ever have so convenient a confrontation.

So I waited for my Master's orders. Once more Louise glanced to the earth, and her eyes closed tightly for a moment. When she raised them, they were resolute.

"Servant," she said, addressing me without removing her eyes from the princess before her.

"Yes, Master?" I asked, awaiting orders.

"Destroy these abominations."

Trace on.

In one motion, I projected the weapon I had chosen, and threw it with unerring speed into the nearest of the corpses. It sank deep into its skull, right between the eyes.

"Understood, Master," I said.

The dead who had witnessed my attack smirked. They had taken injuries before, probably fatal injuries judging from the marks on their clothing. They had probably anticipated that my strike would be as ineffective as the ones they had born before.

The dead who took my strike threw back its head and screamed. It was a wrenching, piercing sound, like that of a wounded beast. It was a sound that shouldn't be possible for a human to make, and the dead literally unhinged its jaws in order to voice it. From the flesh that the blade had buried itself in smoke began to emit, and the skin began to darken as though being burned.

The sword was called a Black Key. It was the favored weapon of the Burial Squad of the church. The Burial Squad were the enforcers of the Vatican, the militant arm that it uses to strike down abominations and heretics who stand against it and pray on man. Each blade was forged in holy rites, blessed at every step of its forging, granting it a limited awareness not unlike the blade I had threatened Montmorency with earlier. These blades knew only one thing, to hate all that was inhuman. And they made that hate known now, as the dead I had pierced with it fell over like a puppet without strings and was still, its eyes blank and unseeing.

When they turned back to me, the dead were definitely not smiling anymore.

Especially when they took note of the six more Keys I had traced, three poised between the knuckles of my fingers in each hand.

I let three more fly, and then the battle began in earnest.

These dead were nowhere near as clumsy as the ones I had to deal with before. They moved fast like wolves, their bodies no longer constrained by the frailty of mortality. Each one had apparently been a skilled swordsman and mage in life, and those skills were kept in death. Three of them came for me instantly, and two more made the three girls behind me their targets.

Two of the three I was dealing with closed in fast, attempting to engage me and lock my blades while the third held back, chanting in preparation of using its magic. I demonstrated again the accuracy of my throw with one of my three remaining keys. The one preparing the spell attempted to dodge, and for its efforts took the blade in its shoulder instead of its heart like I was aiming. It collapsed, screaming as its flesh began to blacken, and then the other two were upon me. Bearing a Key in each hand now, I parried the first strike, and dodged the second.

They moved quick, almost as quick as I did even under the influence of Gandalfr. When I met their charge I had no choice but to match it. Giving ground would have endangered my Master and allies behind me. The clash of steel on steel rang through the night air. There were no high speed combinations in this battle, no massive trump attacks. It was a match of skill upon skill, the desperate exchange of blows that can never be predicted, only prepared for through training.

After nearly a minute of combat, a brief enough lull made itself known and I was able to check the status of the battlefield. The dead I had struck earlier was still moving. The arm of the shoulder I had wounded it in had fallen off, the flesh connecting it to the body having blackened and flaked until the limb itself had succumb to gravity and separated. It was in the process of trying to pry it out of his body with its other hand, having limited success as its remaining hand would start to blacken each time it tugged at it.

Behind me, the three girls had taken my precautions to heart. One of the corpses had tried to close on Kirche, only to find that Tabitha had been prepared. It had been pinned to the ground, and lacking leverage was even now struggling to try and pull itself out. The second had apparently gone after Louise, only to find Kirche's flames as effective against it as my Keys were. It was in the process of being immolated. It had apparently gone after Louise directly originally, but the lessons I had given her had paid off in spades. She had managed to dodge it, and even as I watched, her cry of "Explosion!" echoed through the air. Shortly afterward, both of the dead's legs were also in the air. Now no longer mobile, Kirche set about finishing her job.

The smile of satisfaction the tall redhead was wearing as she did so was both equal parts endearing as it was frightening.

I turned my attention back to the two I was holding off. The tide of battle had ebbed for them, and now I had their feel. Time to show the other skill of the Keys.

Immediately after the one on my right had swung, while the one on my left was rearing back, I reversed the Black Key in my left hand till it was pointing at the ground, kneeled, and stabbed the earth with it right through the dead's shadow. It froze instantly, unable to move while the Key pinned its shade to the ground. The one on my right took advantage of my distraction to try and strike my lowered form. Rather than try to block the blow with the blade in my right, I simply leaned back. The attack clanged off the buried nail in the earth and was deflected. Tracing again, replenishing my left hand with another Key, I stabbed up at both of the now open dead.

The one on my right managed to dodge, leaping backwards, but still receiving a raking wound across its belly. The one on my left didn't, and let loose its own scream as the blessed weapon found its heart. Just like with its first comrade, it too fell, and did not move.

Behind me, Kirche had finished her first target, the one Louise had assisted her with, and was now finishing up the one Tabitha had served up to her. In front of me, there were now only four figures: two wounded nameless dead, the prince, and the princess.

None of those four looked very happy with how the battle was turning out for them. The one armed one had finally managed to pry my Key out of it, and was finally recovering itself enough to return to combat. Even disarmed as it was, it was still a magus, and still a threat. The one I had tagged on the stomach was ignoring the wound completely, it not being enough to seriously affect its combat performance. The prince had narrowed his eyes. Whales definitely didn't like how quickly or how efficiently three girls and an unnamed swordsman had just taken out his undead honor guard. Henrietta was watching as well, appalled at the violence taking place in front of her. She was clutching at Whales tightly, as though realizing that it was indeed possible for her love to be taken from her a second time.

The battle seemed to be going well for our side. Naturally, something had to happen to screw that all up: it began to rain.

Since I'd arrived on this world, I'd battled earth users, wind users, lightning users, fire users, and ice users. When the princess began to laugh joyously at the rain I couldn't help but be cautious.

"God favors us!" she declared, her eyes wide with glee. "A water user is invincible in the rain!"

It looks like I had just found out what the princess' element was. So far the only time I had seen a water user in action was Montmorency. The impression I'd gotten was that all water users were primarily based around healing. It appeared that I was mistaken.

Moving quickly, I traced one more of the Keys in my hand, aiming for Whales. If I could take that one out, then the princess would probably be too distracted to be able to use her magic, and the fight could be ended quickly.

With a wave of her scepter, the princess conjured a wall of water. She hadn't so much as uttered a word of chant or named a spell. My Key, despite the speed it flew at or the sharpness of the blade, bounced off without leaving so much as a mark.

"Kirche, Tabitha," I called behind me, not taking my eye of the enemies. The wall of water that had blocked my attack began to arch around the dead prince, wrapping him like a suit of armor. "Do you have anything that can deal with that? Boil it or freeze it off?"

"No," Kirche admitted, drawing backwards. Tabitha moved to stand before her redhead friend and Louise. "Fire is useless in the rain, especially against water magic of that level."

"No," Tabitha also avowed her uselessness here. "Too strong." I took that to mean that the level of the water magic was too high for the little blue haired girl to be able to match.

"Master," I tried again. Louise shook her head in negative.

"I could target one of them and effectively get through the armor, but only the one I target would be sure to go down."

"So if I were to neutralize their armor, you could get more of them in one shot?" I asked. When she nodded, I dismissed all but one of the Black Keys. "Derflinger, you're up."

"No! Partner, you can't use me here! I don't want to cut the dead! It's unnatural! It's icky!" Derflinger protested quickly, its voice unusually high as for what was probably the first time in its existence it begged not to be used.

"Well unless you can think of another way to cancel the water spell, then you're just going to have to deal with it," I told it bluntly. I thought that would be the end of the conversation, but instead it quickly turned to Louise. Well, turned as much as it could while still in its scabbard.

"Quick! Noble girl! Check your book!" it begged desperately.

Louise started. "What? But I thought you said I wasn't ready for more spells?"

"That was before you got doped up!" it explained, talking quickly. If it had eyes I had no doubt it would be sending nervous glances towards our patient foes. "Now that you've been enchanted, you should be ready for the next one! Quick, before I have to touch one of them!"

With a raised eyebrow, Louise reached down to the founder's prayer book that she had taken to always keeping with her. Turning the pages, heedless of the rain that fell down on it, her eyes suddenly widened. Her expression turned into a smirk. Looking up fiercely, she addressed me. "Servant!"

"Yes, Master?" I asked, my own face matching her with a small hard grin.

"Guard me well!" she ordered, and then lifted her wand.

Once more, just like on the zero fighter, her words echoed through me, sending fire into my blood. It was exhilarating, intoxicating. For a second I forgot that I was on the field of battle, that I should be focusing on the enemies before me. This time, I couldn't hold back the fierce grin that spread over my lips. Satisfaction, heavy dark and consuming spread through me.

"What's going on?" Kirche demanded, alternating glances between the two of us. "What is she doing?" She sounded panicked at the sudden change in both of our demeanor.

"Winning," I told her, and turned to face the dead who stood against me. Behind them, it seemed that Henrietta had risen to her childhood friends challenge, for the princess too was chanting a spell. Her's was much more impressive to watch than my Master's. It was the largest crafting I had seen since coming to this land. Around her formed a tornado. Not the little dust devils you might see in the corner of the building, stirring up leaves. This was a massive, epic phenomenon of destruction. It tore the trees surrounding us, ripping limbs and uprooting them with its power. The water of the rain around us was sucked into it, making the whirling mass of wind and water as dark as the storm clouds above.

So this was the power of the royal family, whom could craft half again as many elements as even the most powerful of nobles. I had to admit, it was an impressive sight.

"I begged you to leave, Louise," princess Henrietta declared, her voice heavy with regret. "Forgive me!"

And like a moving landmass, a tsunami of wind and water nearly as tall as a mountain directed its funnel at us and came like an impossible rockslide.

I held one hand up in front of me. "Rho Aias!" The shield I traced in front of me was one of the few defensive phantasms I bore. In life, it had been the great bronze shield wielded by Aias during the Trojan war, the only weapon to ever block a projectile launched by the other great hero Hector in the entire siege. In death, it was a massive seven petal flower, luminescent and translucent that sprouted in front of me.

The tornado struck it, and the immovable object met the irresistible force.

I waited patiently, tracking the process of the spell against my shield. Rho Aias consisted of seven layers of defense, each as strong as the one before. It was quite possible the most perfect and versatile defensive phantom in existence. I could only think of one that might be its superior, and that one would have protected me, but not my Master or allies behind me. The cyclone struck it, and was stopped. The grinding mass of water and wind slowly began etching away at the first of the layers of defense. As the mass eroded the first petal, it began to pick up speed.

The first defense fell.

With the new momentum it had gathered, the spell quickly began to work away at the second, the core of the spells power now smashing itself against my wall.

The second and third petal fell.

When it began working against the fourth petal, the spells momentum began to even out. The power settled at a constant output, still strong, but no longer increasing.

The fourth petal fell.

I raised my hand to Derflinger, preparing myself. I have never seen anything penetrate all seven layers of Rho Aias, but even if this spell managed it, it would still be depleted. After that it would be just me and Derflinger to halt it.

As the fifth petal began to crumple, the spell still going strong, my Master completed her own chant.

"Dispel!" she shouted. It echoed out of her, a vast unfocused wave, rippling and distorting the surroundings like a wave sent by a rock tossed into a pool. And everywhere the wave touched, magic ceased to be. First the cyclone I stood before, then the two undead honor guard. Finally, the fallen prince Whales.

The cyclone vanished, and the three dead fell to the earth, returned to the state they should be.

Princess Henrietta let out a wail of loss, collapsing next to her once more stolen lover.

*Scene Break*

"Oh, that was so amazing!" Kirche proclaimed, grabbing me and smashing her breasts into the back of my head, leaping up so she could do so while wrapping her arms and legs around me in an octopus like hug.

"Kirche," I said, speaking resignedly. "Is this really the time?"

Laying behind us lay the devastated remains of the knights and animals that had been slaughtered by the undead abductors. In front of us were the fallen remains of the abominations, and a princess, who had collapsed upon one of them, tears leaking from her unconscious eyes.

"Oh, I think it is! That was the most amazing defensive spell I had ever witnessed! Even a monster like the princess couldn't compete against it! Don't you think, Tabitha?" The redhead turned to address the little blue haired girl still standing where she had when the battle had been raging. Just like Louise, she was clutching a book in her hand. In Tabitha's case, a small umbrella of air had spread above her, keeping her literature dry as she read.

"Dispel," Tabitha disagreed, naming the event she found most amazing apparently. Beside her, Louise gave a small tired smile, surveying the wreckage of the battle field with a weathered eye. I've no doubt where she had received the experience necessary to look so jaded in the face of such devastation, and for a moment I felt sincere regret that I had been responsible for the loss of her innocence.

"Oh! Right!" Kirche nodded and dismounted from me. She headed towards Louise who seemed to notice the approaching sex bomb.

"Wait, what are you…" was as far as Louise managed to get off before she too suddenly found herself planted in the enormous bosoms of the redhead.

"That was amazing too, Louise!" Kirche proclaimed, rubbing Louise's head back and force in the crevice of her chest. Louise began to make muffled sounds and waving her arms.

"Kirche," I said with a sigh. "She still needs to breathe." Kirche smirked, and then released the girl from her embrace. Louise gasped and stumbled away, desperately backing away till she was hiding behind me.

"You know," she managed, sounding embarrassed, "that was also funnier when it was happening to you."

"Feel my pain and know my suffering, Master," I told her dryly.

Kirche grasped both her hands in front of her, and squealed happily. "Oh look at them! They make such a perfect pair! They both get the same expressionless look on their faces whenever I do that!" Louise and I both sighed in unison, rubbing our heads slowly. Kirche turned to Tabitha, now with a contemplative expression. "I wonder if we could do that," she murmured to herself, eying Tabitha up and down. "We'd have to get you some more revealing clothing first," she began to plot.

Tabitha simply held a second book up to the redhead instead, apparently disagreeing with Kirche's methods, but not with her idea. The redhead pouted for a second, before contemplatively picking up the book, opening it, and standing next to the bluehead experimentally glancing down so she too could begin to read.

"Let's just ignore that," I suggested to Louise. She nodded an affirmative, and we both turned to go check on Henrietta.

"Princess," Louise said, her voice soft. "Wake up princess. There is still work to do."

Henrietta's eyes fluttered open, and she looked up to see the two of us standing above her. When she met out eyes, she glanced down in shame, unable to bear our gaze.

"I'm sorry," she murmured, sounding heartbroken. "I'm sorry. I've caused you all so much trouble, and hurt so many of my own. I'm sorry. No matter how insufficient it is, I'm sorry." Over and over again, she repeated those words.

"If you're truly sorry, princess Henrietta," Louise said, her voice forgiving. "Then you should go tend to the wounded. There are still survivors among your knights."

The princess rubbed her eyes, nodding. "You're right. After all I've done, this is the least I can do as atonement for my sins."

"There was no sin here," Louise insisted, sounding sad. "You had a choice between love and duty. You chose love. Just like I had a choice between love and duty when I decided to stop you."

"And you chose duty whereas I could not," Henrietta kept her eyes down in shame. "I admire you for that, Louise."

"No, I too chose love," Louise admitted frankly. "Duty would have been to follow your orders and allow you to escape. I loved you too much to let you be used like that."

"Louise," the princess whispered, and her eyes once more began watering with tears. This time, Louise's eyes matched. My little Master kneeled next to her beloved princess, and the two embraced each other, weeping.

I turned away. Love and duty. I envied them, to be able to so selfishly choose love over duty. It was a choice I made differently from them when it was presented to me so long ago. Without a word, I began making my way through the corpses, identifying those who could be saved, and those who were lost. I had no place in such an emotional moment. There was too much steel in me to be able to weep like those two.

As my master and my master's master continued to weep, and as Tabitha and Kirche both stood there reading, Tabitha contentedly and Kirche fidgeting as she did so, I came across one particular corpse. Prince Whales laid before me, his eyes open and staring in death. Kneeling, I moved to close them.

It was then the corpse spoke. "Swordsman," it whispered, and then his eyes focused on me. "Swordsman," he said again. On my back, Derflinger made an 'eep' and began shaking again, even as I reached for it so that I could put this abomination down for good. "Thank you, swordsman," the corpse whispered, gratitude in his eyes. "Thank you for stopping me."

I paused, studying the laying figure before me. "Are you free then, dead one?" I asked bluntly.

"Yes," he whispered, sounding peaceful. "Though I fear only for a short time before I once more return to death. Thank you for stopping me from hurting my Henrietta," he said, smiling softly in relief.

"You're welcome," I told him honestly.

"I've only a short time left, swordsman," he told me plainly. "Could you please call her to me so I can say goodbye properly this time."

I nodded, standing and moving back to the two weeping girls I'd left behind.

"Princess," I called. "You're lover still has life left in him." Her eyes raised to mine in shock, Louise's as well. Her spell should have ended the prince's existence completely. "He has little time left," I told her, my voice devoid of emotion. "You should spend it with him."

"Truly?" the princess whispered, her eyes wide in disbelief.

"Hurry, princess," I tell her my face expressionless. "Few enough of us get a second chance with our loves, much less a third like yourself. Be quick."

The princess ran to her dying lover's side, for the last time.

*Scene Break*

_ That night, sleep was a long time coming to Louise. It should have been instantaneous. She should have been in Morpheus' hands the moment her head hit the pillow. It had been a long and arduous day, full of both physical and emotional stress. Instead, she laid awake for a long time, with her back to her Servant, staring out the window._

_ She hadn't realized. Not at first, when Shirou had spoken about his Saber the first time, those many weeks and months ago. She hadn't realized it again, when they had spoken after she had been cured of her magically inspired love. She should have, but perhaps she just didn't want to understand._

_ But while the two of them had stood on the banks of Ragdorian Lake watching the dying again prince Whales force the lost and broken princess Henrietta to make the oath to love again and to move on from him, hearing the princess rail about how it was the men who died and the women who were forced to live on, Louise had finally understood. She had glanced at her Servant, and been forced to look away less she reveal her epiphany. _

_ And while hearing the princess talk of her loss like she was the only one to have experienced, for the first time in her life Louise had wanted to slap her._

_ When she finally fell asleep, Louise dreamed of swords and battle._

_ Shirou stood once more upon a hill of swords. His posture had changed again. No longer did it look like the weight of the world was on him, like the endless flood of flame and blood was threatening to drown him. His lips now bore the same expression she had become so accustomed too. His lips were curled in a small smile, cynical and disillusioned. He had been through enough battle and horror that now it rolled off his back like water from a duck's wings. He was able to glance at the devastation and see the humor of it, the irony that prevailed upon every battle. Causes that those so willing to die for were so convinced were unique that were actually echoed endlessly. _

_ There was still fire in him. On occasions it would flare in her dreams, and the dream Shirou's eyes would narrow and his fury would turn hot. Just like those few occasions she had seen in the waking world, when he was protecting her, or her allies, or her friends. But more and more his fire was less the ardent consuming flame that Kirche displayed. More and more it was the focused tempered heat of a blacksmith's forge, tightly focused, melding him further and further into the perfect weapon, the most immaculate sword._

_ And as he stood upon the battle fields, she thought back to his oath: to be reunited with his love upon a hill of swords._

_ To be reunited with his lover._

_ His lover was dead._

_ And it was only through battle that he could finally join her again._

_ When he too was dead._

_ And so, through the night, Louise dreamed of battles, and hills of swords.  
_


	11. Promised Blades: The Eleventh night

The Hill of Swords: The Eleventh night.

Author's notes: Howdy folks! Vacation is over and here I am using my free time to once more type away. First off as always, a bit about the chapter.

And so the Faerie Inn arc has started! Originally I was going to have this chapter and the next linked together into a super chapter like the last one. However, as I kept typing away, I realized that I had a different option here, a chance to use the leisurely background to focus on the characters' development, and to just throw some good fun in for laughs. I decided to use that option instead. Consequently, I ex-ed the whole confronting the corrupt nobles and focused instead on Shirou/Louise development. The next chapter, for those of you who were waiting for it, will have Shirou/Henrietta/Agnes development! Sweet! I'm looking forward to Agnes. So much potential there.

A few other things to bring up. First off, people have been wondering why I have Shirou swear by the Root and occasionally the true magics. The reason for this is actually something completely different from what you were expecting. You see, I'm a prior Marine. And as a prior marine, I swear. A lot. It's a habit I've been trying to break, but sometimes if I'm not careful it leaks into my writing (See On Four Legs if you really want an example). When I first started Hill of Swords, I was going to try and keep it a T rating, so every time I came to a part where I would normally have used a vulgarity, I threw in the Root instead. Later on I realized that the killing and violence would probably be enough to force this story into an M rating and changed it, but kept the Root around because I liked how it was working.

Let's see, something else to point out. Originally I had a very closely defined path I was going to take with the Louise dream sequences. Pretty much the entire number of chapters were going to be focused on building and placing those specific scenes. However, since I decided to not try and make those super chapters, I've had to expand the dream cycle a bit. I'm hoping I don't throw off the pacing, but if it feels awkward to any of you, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

Finally, I'd like to announce a little mini contest for all the faithful reviewers. I'm planning on going back in a bit and touching up a few of the chapters. Nothing major, just correct a few of the more horrible spelling and grammer errors. When I do that, I'm thinking of renaming the chapters. I'm planning on dividing this story into three major segments, or 'paths', or even 'seasons', depending on how you want to look at it. The first will be from the beginning to Ward biting it, the second is the one already under way, and the third would be the chapters that would correspond loosely to the third season of the anime FoZ. If anyone thinks they can come up with good names for the three segments, list them as reviews, and we'll see what happens. No guarantee that I'll use all three, and I might come up with something that I feel is appropriate all on my own, but if I do choose one of yours, I'll list you as the donating author, and maybe throw you in on a cameo during the planned eventual 'Tiger Dojo!' chapter.

As always, love it, let me know. Hate it, lay it on me! Just want to say hi, go right ahead.

*Story Start*

"So what's your family like, Louise?" I asked, curiously. We were standing together by the arch of the gateway exiting the Academy. Besides the two of us, there was also Siesta, and two large piles of luggage. One pile consisted of delicately embroidered luggage, sown together out of silk and canvas, and packed to the gills with school girl uniforms, various formal dresses, and by her insistence the customary porcelain tea set that the two of us used for our nightly ritual. The other pile was composed of sackcloth and wooden casements, and was equally packed full of cooking utensils, cleaning supplies, and cooking ingredients. Standing at beside that pile and with the two of us was Siesta. She was once more dressed in her pale blouse and dark skirt casual wear.

"There are my father and mother, the duke and duchess," she began, counting on her fingers. "Besides my parents, I also have two sisters: Eleonore, whom is the elder, and Cattleya, whom is the second eldest. Besides them, there are just the butlers and maids that live and work on our estate."

"Such a small family," Siesta commented, sounding amazed. By the standards of her hometown, where families generally hover around two parents and seven or eight children, it must seem like a tiny little collection of kin. "Don't you have any cousins, or nieces and nephews?" she asked. Siesta had recently gotten in the habit of being much more direct with Louise then was strictly proper. This probably was the result of the little incident that had happened a week or so ago.

It dated back to when Louise had offered to share me with the maid. Though immediately afterwords we had been swept up with the incident involving the princess and the dead, the day after we had gotten back and managed to get a full night's sleep, the next morning Siesta had raced up to Louise and I. She had looked flushed and out of breath, and declared to Louise's face that if sharing was what it would take to get her blessing to be with me, then sharing was exactly what Siesta was willing to do. Apparently the country girl had gotten so caught up in the idea of being able to finally land me, she had completely forgotten that Louise had been drugged out of her mind. Louise had promptly declared that she would do no such thing, and that it was all Siesta's fault for planting those thoughts into her head with her stupid books. Then Siesta had gotten upset that her choice of literature had been so degraded, and told Louise that if they were so stupid, then she wasn't going to loan the noble girl her newest acquisition, The Shepherdess and the Passion of the Chevalier. Louise had immediately began arguing that she had been waiting for that one for nearly a month, and had loaned the maid the money to order it, and that she was damn well going to get a turn with it.

Things had quickly degenerated from there into a full blown catfight. After the fur had finished flying, the two of them had made up by running off together so they could immediately read the book that they both had apparently been waiting for.

I think that after the two of them had fought in the time honored and ancient feminine tradition, and then bonded over steamy romance, that it was just too hard for either of them to really go back to the strict delineation of class that had once dominated their relationship.

"I have a few," Louise admitted, rubbing her chin and staring at the sky contemplatively. "It's just that most of them are officially part of other noble families through marriage or birth. Since I hardly see much of them, and we have different names, they just don't seem like family."

"Ah," Siesta said, her face dropping. "That seems kind of sad." Turning, she raised an eyebrow and glanced shyly at me. "What about you, Shirou? How big is your family?" Louise winced.

"I can't remember," I admit. "My birth parents died when I was very little. I can't even remember them anymore. I don't even know if I ever had siblings actually."

"Ah!" Siesta gasped, raising her hands to her mouth in shock and embarrassment. "I-I-I didn't know!" she said, sounding desperate to apologize.

"It's alright," I tell her gently. She looked like she thought that no, it really wasn't alright in the least. I don't blame her. For her, family is such an integral part of her life that the thought of being without it must be the most horrific thing in the world to her. "I was very young when it happened, and I was adopted right away afterward." Siesta sighed, and smiled at me, happy that I had managed to find a new family.

"That's wonderful!" Siesta clasped her hands together beneath her chin, smiling at me. "I'm so glad you had someone to look after you afterward!" She paused looking worried. "I hope the family that adopted you isn't too worried about you, now that you've been gone for so long. Your new father and mother must be worried." Louise winced again.

"Actually, it was just my father that adopted me. There was no mother," I admitted. I coughed slightly, glancing away. "And my father died a few years after adopting me, when I was a few years younger than you are now."

"Eh!" Siesta gasped, staring at me in shock. "Then did you get adopted again?" she desperately implored me, standing directly in front of me and holding one of my hands with both of hers.

"Well, no," I admitted, scratching my head with my free hand awkwardly. "One of the neighbor's girls who was a few years older than me used to swing by and help look after me, but she was kind of hopeless like that, so I usually ended up having to look after her instead…" I trailed off as Siesta began to tear up. Desperately I searched for something, anything to try and cheer her up. "My adoptive father had a daughter!" I settled on, reaching in the dark for anything to say.

"But I thought you said that you had no siblings?" Louise asked, startled by this news. I hadn't ever mentioned Illya around her.

"Well," I muttered, "when I was adopted her father abandoned her to look after me, so when we finally met she tried to kill me." Both Siesta and Louise winced at that. "And she was kind of sickly and all," being homunculi would do that to you, "and even though we managed to set aside our differences and be a family for a bit," both Louise and Siesta perked up at that, "she died a year or so after that…"

Without giving me time for another word, Siesta grabbed my head and dragged it to her breasts in a classic Kirche maneuver, smothering me with an embrace. Considering the sheer size difference between the two of us, it was a very awkward experience for me. "Louise!" Siesta declared, and I felt her shift to give an accusing glare at the pink haired noble. "You must let Shirou come on vacation with me instead! He needs to be around a loving family and see how wonderful it is!"

"Well he's about to meet mine, so that…" Louise trailed off, and began awkwardly scratching her head apparently thinking about her own family. "Well," she finally admitted, "I suppose I could be able to spare him for a week or two…"

"Excellent!" Siesta crowed, leaning down to rub her cheek against the back of my head while she continued to give me the guided tour of her bosoms. "And while we're there, we can start working on our own family…" she whispered huskily.

"Don't push it," Louise told her dryly.

I managed to turn my head sideways enough to be able to speak. And breathe. Breathing is good. "Don't I get a say in this?" I managed to get out, before Siesta displayed just how much strength doing chores in a castle of this size can give a girl, and dragged me back down into my perfumed dour.

"No!" she declared insistently. "Even your Master says its okay, so you're coming back with me!"

Though summer vacation had been going on for a little while now, it seemed like the second wave of returns home was about to start. This wave consisted of students who had finally finished their last minute academia, or had simply been waiting for personal reasons to return home. As such a number of students that had been hanging around had begun to clear off as well. There was a great deal of pressure being placed on the students by the professors themselves, who also wanted the free time summer provided them for their own studies and projects.

Louise had initially put off returning home. She fell into the 'academic projects' category herself. With her recently acquired skill in the void, and the accompanying success of her less potent spells like levitation and locking magics, she had wanted to put off returning for a while so she could have a chance to sharpen her skills with her magic before she returned. Due to her previous lack of success in pretty much every spell she attempted her family had developed, probably quite rightly at the time, a very low opinion of her skills. Now that she was finally showing improvement, she wanted her return home to be a triumphant display of her progress and had thus put it off till she was certain she wouldn't slip up on something simple.

Siesta however was simply being put on summer leave. With the number of students and professors drastically reduced, the large cleaning and cooking help on staff just wasn't necessary at the moment, and thus a good number of them were sent home for the summer as well. Only a skeleton crew would remain to cook for the students who remained. The staff would however return a few weeks before the next semester so that they could get the school in proper order before the noble students could return and have their delicate sensibilities offended.

I had just finished composing my carefully structured five point argument about why it would be a bad idea for me, as a Servant, to be parted from my Master for so long when the whole impending argument was derailed completely by an incoming owl. It was a tawny unremarkable thing, the only thing making it at all interesting was the scroll it was grasping in its claws.

And the fact that it promptly landed on Louise's shoulder and began beating her upside the head with its wings.

"Ouch!" Louise protested, as Siesta looked on, curious as to the sudden development. "Ouch! Calm down! I can't take the scroll if you keep hitting me!" It looked like the owl was very well trained, and was having trouble landing on Louise's thin blouse without cutting her, and so had resorted to half hovering half resting on the small girl's thin shoulder. Of course the half hovering resulted in it beating its wings every so often, and continuing to smack Louise on the head and shoulder. "Shirou! Why haven't you offered to kill this owl yet?" she yelped, taking a feathered appendage in the face again.

"Oh, I see how it is," I mutter, finally pulling myself out of Siesta's smothering motherly embrace. I straightened with a grimace, my back cracking from the awkward angle it had been resting in. "First it's always, 'Shirou, why do you keep offering to kill?' Now though it's always, 'Shirou, why haven't you killed this already?'" I continued to grumble as I came up beside my Master and caught her avian aggressor around its body, pulling it away from her. Holding it firmly with both hands as it struggled Louise finally managed to untie the scroll around its leg.

She gave the message a cursory glance at first, but when she identified the wax seal used to close the roll of parchment, her eyes narrowed. Breaking the seal with ease, she began to scan the parchment. Before she got to far though, the continued noise the bird was making caused her to glance up.

With a sigh, she lowered the parchment, and used one hand to rub her forehead. "Shirou, what are you doing?"

"Well, you did ask me why I hadn't killed the bird," I reminded her. The owl was desperately struggling with the one hand still on it, and the other had traced a massive executioner's axe, and I was trying to aim a shot that would behead the bird without hitting myself.

"Louise," Siesta accused, sounding disappointed. "I can't believe you'd order Shirou to kill an innocent bird just because it hit you a few times.

Louise looked at me for a moment, before letting loose a rueful chuckle. "You do realize that by now I've figured out when you're being serious about your suggested murder and when you're just teasing me, don't you?"

Now it was my turn give a small half smile. "Ah, really? And I was having so much fun with it too." I glanced at the struggling owl. "So I take it you want me to let this one go?"

"Please," she said to me primly, turning back to the scroll while shaking her head in an amused fashion.

"You got lucky this time, bird," I told it, before letting it go and dismissing the axe.

"Eh?" Siesta gawked. "So does that mean all those times that Shirou offered to kill for you he was joking Louise?"

"No," Louise shook her head, still reading the scroll. "Most of them were real. That one time he offered to kill my fiancé was a joke though."

"And yet you still took me up on it," I reminded her.

"Then what about the time he offered to slaughter the rest of the sophomore class so that you could be the highest scorer on that midterm?" Siesta asked, looking hopeful.

"That was real," Louse corrected. Her eyes had furrowed as she delved deeper and deeper into the scroll. "The time he offered to kill the groundskeeper for not cutting the grass that one time I tripped was a joke though."

"As if I would seriously consider killing the help over something like that," I dismissed the notion as ridiculous. Siesta looked mildly relieved at that. I don't know why. I liked the groundskeeper. I'd helped him trim some of the bushes around the campus more than a few times.

"And when he offered to kill the emperor of Germania and all who dwell in his country for breaking off the wedding with the princess?" Siesta rubbed her chin thoughtfully. Now that she knew that I had a sense of humor when it came to my assassination offers she was trying to put together precisely what was my criteria for 'funny'.

"The entire country? No," Louise admitted. She had reached the end of the scroll, and had rolled it up, looking resigned. "The emperor? Yes. That's the third member of royalty you've offered to kill for me by the way," she reminded me.

This time it was my turn to rub my chin thoughtfully. "So that just leaves the king of Gallia and the pope of Romallia, right?" Louise nodded, but when I opened my mouth she cut me off.

"No, but thanks for offering," she assured me. With a sigh she continued. "Now I'm afraid our vacation has been canceled. We're going to have to move everything back up to the room."

"I see," I murmured, nodding my head in deference. "I assume something has come up."

"Sadly, yes," Louise confirmed. "When we have some privacy I'll explain it. For now, let's just get everything back to the room."

"Yes, Master," I said. Louise picked up two of her smaller bags, and I moved to fit as many under my arms and in my hand as I could. Siesta began to panic.

"Wait!" she proclaimed, putting herself in our path, her eyes wide and her arms outstretched. "Shirou was supposed to come back to Tarbes with me! I was going to charm him with my cooking and show him how well I could look after my little brothers and sisters!" Louise and I parted and walked on either side of her. She spun around and started following us, hands clasped in front of her as she begged. "I was going to show him how great a wife and mother I'd be! He would be so moved by what it would be like to have a family that he'd propose to me!" The two of us kept walking. Desperately Siesta latched onto Louise's leg, and the little pink haired girl almost tripped before righting herself. "We were going to have a white picket fence! And a dog named Wanwan!" Louise managed to keep walking, dragging the shamelessly begging maid behind her with each step. "Louise!" Siesta wept, "what about my white picket fence and puppy? Don't take them away!"

*Scene Break*

"As you know, after the attempted kidnapping, princess Henrietta was very depressed, right?" Louise began the mission briefing as she unpacked the bags we had brought back to the room. After we had finally managed to dislodge Siesta from her ankle. An event which took till we reached the third flight of stairs to accomplish. A very persistent girl, that Siesta.

"Actually, I have a question already," I interjected.

"About the princess being depressed? Why would you be confused about that?" Louise asked, sounding surprised. I shook my head.

"Not about that. About why she's still called the princess. Wasn't she already coronated? Shouldn't she be Queen Henrietta now?"

Louise rolled her eyes. "Is that really so relevant right now?" she asked exasperatedly.

Derflinger chose that moment to interrupt. "Actually, noble girl, I've been kind of wondering that myself." I nodded my head.

"I mean, what was the point of the coronation in the first place if she was still just going to be called a princess? Wouldn't it be better for Henrietta to have the higher title if she was now leading the country?" I continued, cocking my head to the side and glancing at my Master as I helped her unpack.

"That's not really…" Louise began, before she was interrupted again.

"Exactly!" Derflinger chimed in agreement. "What's the point of being in charge if you don't have the big wig title?" I nodded my head again.

"Do you two have to do that?" Louise asked, her voice sounding very put out upon. "You two know I hate it when you gang up on me."

"Sorry," the two of us apologized in unison.

"If I just explain it, will you two let me continue?" Louise asked, rubbing her head.

I nodded my head as Derflinger said the words, "Nod nod."

"Though she's been officially recognized as the head of the state, her mother still technically bears the title of 'queen'. Princess Henrietta will still be referred to as 'princess' until either her mother passes away or she marries." Louise paused, eying the two of us carefully. "There. Was that so hard?"

"Nope." "Not at all." Both Derflinger and I agreed easily, the sword sounding satisfied and me nodding in understanding.

"Like sword, like swordsman," Louise muttered discontentedly. "Now, as I was saying. Despite her depression, the princess has continued to take a more active role in governing recently. She's been raising funds and preparing a force for the invasion of Albion." Louise paused, apparently waiting for either of us to interrupt for some reason.

I don't know why she thought so little of us.

"Anyway," Louise continued, satisfied by our silence. "Albion is aware of this, but after their loss at the fields of Tarbes, they don't have the forces available to actively attack anymore, and so have begun a covert campaign: spies, saboteurs, rumor mongers, infiltrators, things such as that." Louise had finished packing for the most part. As I finished putting away the last few pieces of clothing, she sat herself primly on the bed, folding her arms.

Looks like the "Tohsaka Rin Lecture Position Number Three". She'd been widening her repertoire recently.

"And is it our job to hunt down these infiltrators and eliminate them?" I asked.

Louise opened her mouth to scold me for immediately resorting to my fall back response, and then closed it, cocking her head to the side as she thought about it.

"Do you think we should?" she asked, sounding doubtful. For once her own views on acceptable violence and mine had come into alignment. If there were saboteurs and infiltrators, they were a threat to her princess and country and in that case she'd probably want to wield the knife that slit their throats herself.

Louise was a loyalist like that.

"Depends," I admit. "Does the letter say anything besides identifying them?" When she shook her head, already knowing that I had a nugget of wisdom ready for her and waiting patiently, I continued. "Then that means they might just want them identified. If you know who the spies are, you can feed them false information; maybe find some way to convert them to your cause. Same with saboteurs. If you know their targets you can guess what the enemies planning. But then you have to be careful, because if they realize you have identified the infiltrator, then the enemy might have them start to investigate meaningless things in order to take attention of the spy that hasn't been discovered. It becomes a covert game of 'I know you know, but do you know that I know you know?'" I shrugged. "I'm not much good at those kinds of games, so I prefer the kill them quick route. If you do it fast enough, then you might start to scare off other potential infiltrators." I grimaced. "If you want to really frighten off the rest, make it brutal. Torture them publicly, cut off pieces and send them to their kin, that kind of thing. I never really cared for that method, but it can be effective if done right."

"I see," Louise said, stroking her chin. She had grimaced a bit like I did when I explained the more vicious options, but she had understood my lesson well enough. "No," she finally said. "No killing. Just identifying."

"Understood, Master," I confirmed. "So then what is our course of action?"

"The princess has provided us a voucher to be redeemed at the dispensary for funds. We're to disguise ourselves as commoners and take note of all rumors and opinions of the public. We're to focus on those that concern either the war in Albion or the popular opinion on the princess herself. We're also to investigate rumors of nobles abusing their status," Louise laid it all out. "I'll be making regular reports to the princess herself in secret."

"Hmm," I hummed. "She's concerning herself directly with the opinions of the populace. It means she's not as out of touch with the commoners as many nobles are."

"You say that like its an important thing," Louise commented. It was a typical noble sentiment, but when she voiced it she sounded doubtful.

I gave a cynical grin. "It's easy to say that the commoners are secondary to nobles, until a noble has no commoners around to clean their houses, manage their money, prepare them food, or craft them clothing and furniture," I pointed out. "If you still doubt it, try spending a day with Siesta while she's on the clock. You'll find out pretty fast just how important it is to keep them around."

"Well," Louise murmured, not quite willing to see my point of view, but not quite willing to dismiss it immediately. "For now, we have to focus on blending in with the commoners themselves. It shouldn't be too hard," she dismissed.

I wasn't too certain. Direct exposure to me might have had an impact on Louise when it came to the depths of violence that existed beneath the veneer of civilization she was so accustomed too, but there was a lot more out there then violence that she'd been sheltered from. "Louise," I began, trying not to offend the small girl. "Do you think it might be better if I took charge in this mission? Perhaps initially until you get the hang of it?"

"Nonsense," Louise declined immediately. "Something as simple as this should be no problem for a user of the void like me," she declared confidently, raising her chin proudly.

"Very well then, Master," I surrendered. What's the worst that could happen?

*Scene Break*

"So then, Louise," I said patiently, "what have we learned today?"

"That commoners don't have the money to own fine horses and tackle?" she tried, hesitantly.

"And?" I continued, my arms folded as I eyed her expectantly.

"And they don't stay in expensive hotels?" she tried again, glancing down this time embarrassed.

"And?" I prompted, still standing patiently as I eyed her.

"The reason they don't have them is because if they try to win enough money for them at casinos they end up losing everything all at once?" she sighed, excepting the fact that she wasn't going to get away with brushing this off.

"They end up losing everything like who did?" I prompted, tapping my foot impatiently.

"Like I did," she admitted guiltily.

"And what did you learn from this?" I asked. I had already made my point, and now was just curious just what lesson she really had pulled from this.

"That being a noble is better than being a commoner?" she tried, giving me a weak hopeful smile. I narrowed my eyes at her, and she gulped and resumed staring at the ground guiltily.

I sighed and sat down next to her. The two of us had made it to the capital of Tristain. We hadn't been able to use the carriage from the academy since this was meant to be a covert mission, and thus had to walk. After spending countless hours in the hot sun, Louise's temper had begun to fray by the time we had arrived. From there, it the first task had been finding appropriate clothes for Louise. A cloak with a pentagram brooch, the mark of a student at the academy and thus an indicator of noble status just wasn't acceptable for blending in. The thick and course dress she had ended up in had struck Louise's nerves further. When she had sought lodging and transportation, and realized that the money the princess had provided us with wasn't enough to supply either of those in the style she was used to, Louise had finally snapped.

The end result of her disillusionment with this assignment had been her trying to find a quick way to make the money she needed to continue her accustomed lifestyle. The way she had settled on had been roulette.

The rest was history.

Now the two of us were resting against a fountain in the center of the city of Tristain penniless, and with my smaller master beginning to shiver as the onset of night began to set in.

All said and done, the situation wasn't hopeless. I had the experience necessary to keep the two of us alive, and though we might spend a day or two hungry, I also had the experience necessary to get and keep job. The biggest damage done here was to Louise's confidence, and with all said and done, I was debating whether or not that was a bad thing. It was probably good that she experienced a few bumps in her plans early on, so that she didn't get to overconfident later on.

Still, it meant that we'd probably have a few cold nights in our future till we could find the money to acquire lodgings.

The two of us must have made a pretty pathetic picture because as we sat there, Louise with her head bowed in shame and me leaning back with a worried look on my face as I contemplated the next course of action, a passing stranger decided to show us some kindness by tossing a few coppers in front of us.

"What?" Louise stared at the copper coins for a second, before her face flushed. "What do you think…!" was as far as she got out, preparing to vent her anger over the situation at the kind soul who mistook the two of us as homeless penniless beggars. Which at the moment we technically were.

Before Louise could properly get going, I snaked one hand around her head and covered her mouth. "Thank you, kind sir," I murmured, bowing to the startled passerby who had tried to be kind, and lowering Louise's head as well. With a smile, they turned and left, and I scooped up the pennies.

"What are you doing?" Louise snarled at me. "They think we're beggars!"

"We don't have any money," I reminded her dryly, and she pouted and glared away from me for reminding her of the predicament she had gotten the two of us into. "This will be enough to buy us a bit of food for the night. We'll probably have to sleep in an alley, but tomorrow we'll be able to seek employment. It might take us a few days till we find some, so till then, every penny counts," I chided her. Another few pennies landed in front of us, and though it looked like she wanted to protest again, Louise instead looked down, bighting her lips in shame.

"Thank you too, sir…" I trailed off as I looked up to express my gratitude at another kind soul and found myself confronted by a sight I was honestly uncertain of how to respond to.

The man was big, heavily muscled from his bull chin to his toes. It was his outfit that threw me off. He was wearing a bright violet shirt open down to his belly button and with big puffs at the shoulder instead of sleeves. His pants were short, barely reaching down halfway to his knees, and black and satiny. He wore high boots that reached up to his knees and were polished to a mirror shine. They were also high heeled. From his shirt poked a full chest of thick black hair. The hair on his head was oiled to a sheen, and he had a stylish mustache. He smelled of perfume.

"Oh no!" the man declared flamboyantly. He flipped his wrist at us, and used the other to pose. It was even more extravagant then anything Guiche had ever been able to accomplish. "It is no problem, to help two poor souls! Have you two just arrived at the city?" he asked, sounding commiserating.

"Yes," I answered slowly, unsure of what to make of him. Louise had finally swallowed enough of her shame to glance up, and then let loose an 'eep' and slipped close to me, pulling my arm to shield her. She stared up at the peculiar fellow with wide and disbelieving eyes.

"It is so hard, to come to a new city," the man commiserated, putting both hands on his chin and wiggling himself side to side. "Have you two a place to stay?"

"No," I said, still slowly. "Not yet. My little sister and I," I indicated Louise behind me with the arm she was hiding behind, "need first find employment." Louise, from the place where she had concealed herself glanced up at me when I declared her my sister, but then found her eyes inexorably drawn back to the figure in front of us.

"Oh!" the big figure said, still wiggling. "It can be so hard to find a job these days. If you wish, I can help you with that!" And here, my eyes narrowed.

"Good sir," I said, my voice considerably less friendly. "I am aware of the difficulty in finding work, and your offer would be gratefully accepted. However," and here my hand went to Derflinger and my voice became hard, "I feel I should tell you that there is some work neither my sister nor I are interested in. If the offer you make is one such trade, then I should warn you to retract it and leave now."

Both Louise and the man's eyes widened. They both had made the connection of what kind of job would be unacceptable. Louise's eyes widened because she hadn't even considered that such a fate could lay for her. The man's apparently widened because I had thought he was offering such a thing.

"Oh no!" the man proclaimed, and he waved both hands in front of himself furiously at that! "My establishment will have none of that! Please, young man! Come and see for yourself." He bowed flamboyantly again, and gestured in the direction of his shop.

With eyes narrowed, I glanced at Louise. She looked nervous, but then resolved herself. It had been her fault we found ourselves in this situation, and her sense of responsibility wouldn't allow her to shirk if there was a possibility of resolving the mess.

"Let's go see," she finally said quietly. The man had remained bowed, and had begun wiggling his buttocks back and forth as he waited.

"Worse comes to worse, I can just kill him," I agree.

The strange man had heard our conversation, and let my condition slide. "Tres Bien!" he proclaimed happily, and twirled his mustache with one finger.

*Scene Break*

"This," I murmured, glancing around, "isn't bad at all."

I got the feeling Louise wasn't agreeing with me at the moment. The inn the strange man, whose name turned out to be Scarron, had taken us to was a clean, well lit, and carefully cared for place at the border of the seedier side of town. Though it was called the 'Charming Faerie Inn', it was less an inn and more a bar that specialized in having sexily clad young women serving wine to customers. Despite that fact there was no hint of any kind of sexual coercion here. Beside Scarron, there were no other male workers here. Well, beside Scarron and myself, and I had doubts about how male Scarron actually considered himself.

The fact that Scarron insisted on having all the employees call him 'Mi Mademoiselle' kind of lent credibility to this assumption.

Still, the eccentric man had promised us a room and board, so long as we worked our way. Louise had ended up in a white camisole with matching stalking, and was even now as red as her hair and stuttering as she was introduced to the rest of the girls. The girls who worked here were to a one brilliantly cheerful and happy, which spoke a great deal about the credibility of Scarron's assurance of the legitimacy of the place.

"Oi, new guy," a voice called from behind me as I watched Louise's introduction to the labor market from a corner of the inn. Turning, I caught sight of the one addressing me. She was taller than Louise by a good deal, but still shorter than me. She had fair features, dark black hair, and a set of breasts that could nearly match Kirche that were displayed by a low cut single piece dark green dress. She had a bandanna wrapped around her hair to keep it off her head, and a cheerful if no nonsense air about her. "What do you think you're doing?" she said in a tone that was mischievous.

"Just making sure my sister gets along with her new coworkers," I tell her, fibbing just a little bit.

She leered at me. "Well you can keep an eye on her from the back," she informs me folding her arms with a smirk.

"Oh?" I asked, not quite understanding what she was getting at.

"Don't think that you're sister's the only one that's going to be working," she told me, and then pointed towards the kitchen. I followed her finger to the back, and saw that it indicated a sink with a positively prodigious amount of unwashed dishes next to it.

"You want me to wash the dishes?" I asked, my face carefully blank. The girl seemed to think that I was upset by the fate that awaited me.

"Oh yeah," she smirked. "You'll also be fetching supplies, taking out the garbage, and helping with the clean up afterwards."

Despite myself, I found myself beginning to smile. "And I suppose cooking too?" I asked, unable to keep a note of hope out of my voice.

The girl blinked, not quite sure about my reaction. "Well," she admits, "I usually take care of that myself, but sometimes if we're expecting big business we might bring in a chef. Why, can you cook?" she asked, eying me suspiciously.

"Oh yes," I sighed in longing. "But it's been a while since I haven't been chased out of the kitchen." The head chef, no matter how much he enjoyed exchanging recipes with me just wouldn't let me have a turn in his kitchen. He considered it a matter of pride to be able to serve me. And even when he wasn't around to stop me, Siesta had some sort of sixth sense for that kind of thing, and would instantly show up the moment I began to prepare my ingredients, squawk in horror, and then take over so that she could be the one who would prepare me food.

"Well," the girl said, sounding like she didn't quite believe me. "You work hard enough and maybe I'll talk my father into letting you try your hand at something."

"You're father?" I raised my eyebrow at that.

"Daddy over there," she said, and indicated Scarron, who was now posing with a few of the girls, apparently showing Louise the ropes for how to act cute enough to get a tip. While the girls managed to make it come off as running the gamut between cute and sexy, Scarron couldn't quite make it past weird. Louise looked like she was about to faint from embarrassment. "My name's Jessica. Dad takes care of most of the business deals, and I handle management of the inn and the girls," she finally introduced herself to me.

"Well then," I said, now with a goal of my own: prove my worthiness in front of a stove to the manager. It had been too long since I had a chance to properly cook! "I'll just be getting to work on those dishes over there!" I declared cheerfully, rolling back my sleeves with a smile and heading straight to the sink past a blinking in surprise Jessica.

I think it further unnerved her when I began to hum happily while I began the scrubbing.

*Scene Break*

"Where are the plates?" Jessica called to me, flouncing over to check my progress. It had been a few hours since the doors of the inn had opened to business, and business was booming. There had been a steady stream of dirty plates and dishes that I had been attending too almost immediately. At times it looked like the incoming might swamp me, but I persevered with all the skills I had acquired through years of cleaning up after my own meals. It might not seem like the time when I was cooking for myself would generate a lot of dishes, but when I started learning how to cook I was determined to master a wide variety of dishes. At times the experimentation didn't turn out that well, and the end results could get messy.

"Upper cabinet on the left," I called back, still busily working up to my elbows in sudsy water.

"And the large pot?" she asked, not even glancing at me as she rushed by to the indicated shelf to get the necessary dishes down.

"Drying on the counter behind you," I informed her easily. She flounced behind me, and reappeared as though by magic without pause on my other side, this time with all the plates laden with food.

She balanced the pot on an arm that was also holding two full plates, and began a trip to the counter leading to the main room without a second glance. "How are we doing on wine?" she tossed over her shoulder.

"We're down to half stock," I informed her, checking the appropriate shelf on the other end of the room with a quick glance. "Need me to run down to the cellar for a restock?" The inn had a small dug cellar that was cooler than the main room that they kept their selection in.

"No," she called back, unloading the plates, "just keep washing the…" she turned back as she finished unloading and stopped, gawking at me with an open mouth.

"The dishes?" I supplied, a half grin on my face, as I indicated the completely empty wash rack and the full complement of clean dishes on the other side.

"Wow," Jessica said, whistling slowly and raising an eye. "You're pretty handy to have around," she admitted. "Well then, go on and get the wine. Be quick about it. The rack won't stay empty forever."

"Got it," I said with a nod, heading for the door. "Want me to take a load of garbage out as well?" I asked, pausing at the half full bin of scraps.

"Go on," she nodded, already turning back to the stove. "Better to stay on top of it."

Sure enough, after I had taken care of the chores there was another small pile of dirty dishes growing at the counter. With a happy smile I got to work on them.

"You're pretty convenient to have around," Jessica said, looking at me with an amused smile of her own from where she was on the stove. "I didn't figure you to be the domestic type," she teased.

"Oh? Why's that?" I asked, up to my elbows in water again.

"Well from the way you lug around that big old sword of yours I figured you'd take more offense at being asked to handle women's work," she pointed out, now her voice tinged with curiosity as she glanced up at the sheathe of Derflinger hanging on my back.

"I like chores like this," I admit with an unashamed shrug. "I like having a stack of clean dishes and knowing that I was the one who made them that way. It's not like its hard work either," I point out. "It's a good way to keep the hands busy that still lets you let your mind wander."

"Heh," Jessica said, now smiling herself. "That's a good work attitude! I like it, new guy."

"Shirou," I introduced myself. "Just call me Shirou." I didn't add on a last name. Later on when we were alone, Louise and I would have to iron out the details of our cover story. For now, I'd keep it simple so that I don't accidentally say anything that would contradict any story she had to give.

"Shirou?" she said, testing the name awkwardly. "That's a funny name."

"Yeah," I shrug, not giving an explanation. "I get that a lot. Don't have any idea where my parents got it from."

"Well then, Shirou," she said. "It's nice to see you so willing to put your shoulder to it," she complimented, turning back to the stove.

"It feels good to help out," I said, clattering the dishes as I washed. Quite suddenly, I froze. In a toneless voice I addressed Jessica. "Excuse me for a moment, won't you?"

"Why?" she said, turning to see what the matter was, and then raising an eyebrow when she saw my suddenly expressionless face. Following my gaze, she winced. I had been keeping an eye on Louise as the night went on through the open counter that connected the kitchen area with the floor proper. She had been handling herself remarkably well all evening, all things considered. She hadn't been getting many tips, but she hadn't snapped and blown anyone up.

It seemed she finally reached her limit as one of the customers attempted to get grabby with her and she had dumped the entire bottle of wine on his head. Now he was standing up angrily and it looked like I was going to have to intervene.

"Hold on a sec," Jessica said, and I glanced at her briefly. She had a grin on her face. "Watch this."

I turned back to the scene unfolding, still prepared to unleash horrific violence if necessary. The only reason I hadn't drawn Derflinger or traced yet was because both acts would have displayed an ability to use magic: one through the actual act of creating a blade and the other through the shine that would appear on my runes if I did so. No sooner than my eyes were back on the angry customer than Scarron appeared. The big man wrapped himself around the drenched customer in a way that would have been provocative if he had been a female, and was just plain disturbing since he wasn't. Scarron dragged the angry customer back into the seat, and then said something I couldn't make out to Louise, who nodded in bewilderment and quickly scampered away. Then the big man began to act like he was going to kiss the now very uncomfortable customer, even as he tried his best to get the larger and more muscled man off of him.

Despite the fact that I would have preferred a more pointed lesson, I couldn't help but smiling viciously at the scene.

"You know," I said to the now grinning Jessica as well. "That was almost as satisfying as what I would have done to him."

"Yeah, well just remember, you get blood everywhere with that big sword of yours and you'll be the one mopping it up," she chided me with a grin. I don't think she really believed that I would have done anything. I'm sure in her eyes the kind of people that would willingly cut up another man weren't the kind of people that would also willingly spend their evening pruning their hands in a sink of dirty dishes.

"I'll keep that in mind," I tell her honestly, before turning back to the sink and the growing pile that waited me there.

*Scene Break*

"This is the room we're supposed to sleep in?" Louise asked, her eyebrow twitching. Her hand was held up in the air and was reflexively flexing around a wand handle that wasn't there at the moment.

"It sure is," I said. I was feeling a little tired from the hard work in the kitchen, but it was the good kind of tired. It'd been a while since I'd done what most would call an honest day's work and I was finding the experience to be both nostalgic and enjoyable.

"It's a closet, and it looks like no one has been in here for months," she ground out, stomping into the center of the room, brushing away cobwebs as she did so. There was a bed in the room, certainly, but it was in the middle of a collection of old furniture, stacked crates, and piled musty clothes. I began to straighten up, cleaning the sheets and making the bed for Louise, as well as collecting blankets for my makeshift futon.

"We've slept in worse when we were out adventuring," I reminded her pointedly. Louise huffed at that, having no rejoinder.

"This is not what I was imagining when I swore to the queen that I would serve her," Louise insisted, stomping her foot indignantly. She had both her arms crossed and her cheeks puffed out in anger. Her face was as read as her hair, but this time it looked like it was out of anger rather than embarrassment.

I stopped my task, regarding my Master calmly as I did so. After a long moment, I spoke, my voice carefully bland. "And what was it that you thought you would be doing, Louise?" I asked.

Louise had worked herself up so much that she hadn't noticed my change of tone. "I thought I'd be at the battle front! I thought that I'd have a chance to show my magic off! I thought I'd be doing something besides waiting on tables in a sleazy little bar!" She had worked herself up so much that she swung at a nearby wood cabinet. The blow was too light to do more than shake the dust off it, but that was enough to set off the bats who were currently sharing our room off. They screeched as they descended from what was otherwise a very quiet and peaceful resting place. Louise 'eeped' and ducked down in fright. When she realized that the flying rodents were more concerned with escaping then with tangling themselves in her hair, she sat down on the bed with a huff. A small cushion of dust spread around her as she did so.

"If the current surroundings displease you Master, then I could kill the owner and his daughter and take their lodgings for your own," I told her. My voice was casual this time, no longer toneless like it was before.

"No killing the management," Louise muttered halfheartedly, not noticing anything but my words.

"Afterwards, I could track down the princess for daring to give you such a diminutive task," I assure Louise, continuing as though I hadn't heard her. This brought Louise up with a start.

"I thought I said no more thinking about assassinating the princess," Louise began, her voice sounding cross. I ignored her and continued airing out a blanket as I spoke.

"After that, it should be a small effort to engineer a takeover of the former princess' government," I continued blandly. "With the power of the void it should be easy enough for you to convince them to follow you as a holy leader."

"What!" Louise shrieked, her voice hitting octaves high enough that I wondered briefly if she would disturb the other barmaids from their well deserved rest. "Why would I want to do that?"

"Well, the holy founder Brimir did the same," I pointed out nonchalantly. "He obviously went about conquering everyone with the power of the void."

"You be silent, Servant," Louise growled at me. She was always one who took tradition very seriously, and to hear me speak in so accusatory a tone against one of the pinnacles of her culture was more than enough to cross a line for her. "Founder Brimir was saint sent to unify the land under the holy orders of god himself!" she said, her voice lacking all the childish complaints it had earlier and was now as sharp as the steel I knew lay in her.

"I doubt that those who were conquered considered him to be on god's side," I said cynically. Louise bristled. This wasn't the normal bristling that I knew Louise to have in her. When she was mad, Louise let the world know. Her hands were always clenched on something, her face turned down with shut eyes and grinding teeth; that was Louise normally bristling. My past comments had sent her beyond that, to a plateau I don't think she even realized she had before.

"Servant," she said her posture straight as a board, her tone reminiscent of my own on a bad day. "I know you well enough to know you would not speak so blasphemously without reason. Nevertheless, if you do not explain yourself immediately, then regardless of our association I shall punish you forthwith."

This wasn't Louise threatening a missed dinner and a cold night without blankets. This was Louise right before she turned me loose on the dead prince of Albion, the Louise who blew the arm off her ex-fiancé right before I chopped the traitor in two. This was Louise serious.

And this was me serious too. Louise had finally found herself in a position of actual power. Not only did she have the ambition now, but she had the means to see it through. And now it was time for me to take measure of the girl whom I have had on probationary status for so long.

"What do you think my concern is in these matters, Louise?" I asked her plainly. A second later I reconsidered my words and before she had a chance to question them I explained. "What do you think I care about being asked to go to a town I've only been to once before to search for agents of a country I've only visited once before, for another country I've only been living in for a handful of months?" I raised an eyebrow to Louise, who still looked like she was contemplating the necessity of bringing the holy wrath of a scorned legend down upon me.

"None," she said slowly, thinking it over. By now she knew me well enough to know that I wouldn't have pushed this confrontation on her if I didn't have a reason for it. Because of her engendered respect for me, she at least made a solid effort to try and understand argument. "It is as you said," she finally concluded, her voice hesitant as she answered, still not seeing where I was trying to go, "you are my Servant, so you only follow my orders."

"Yes," I acknowledged, setting aside the blanket I had been using as a prop, my voice still as bland as it was earlier. "I do not care for the politics of this region, nor do I care for the near total majority of its people. Following your princess' orders is only a concern I hold because you have in the past ordered me to consider her as I would you." Louise's eyebrows furrowed as she tried to reach back into her memory to pull back when she had given me that order. It had been given in the heat of the moment, so it was no surprise she couldn't recall it specifically. "My question for you now, Master, is why do you follow her orders?" I saw Louise stiffen at that, and continued, overriding anything she wanted to say as I hammered my point in. "She is a woman, a girl, just as yourself. She has perhaps a year more than you in experience, and little else besides childhood friendship and dogmatic adherence to duty that has been drilled into you as a child to command your loyalty. And what has she done with your loyalty? She has cast you out into the commoners to suffer so that she can sit safe in her palace surrounded by wealth and luxury while you suffer for her."

My voice had grown more and harsher as I spoke, my own spine straightening and my expression growing more and more scornful. Louise flinched back from my sudden confrontational attitude. I hammered onwards. I wanted an answer here. Giving her time to consider, time to justify in her head would just twist the true instinctual response I wanted to evoke from her.

"You have a power vaster than even the six fold ability of the princess," I pushed her. "You could crush this city and everything in it with one spell," my voice rose, and Louise flushed as she glanced to the side. I could tell why. Once you've seen power like that, you imagine what you could do with it, considering all the options that your strength could open. My eyes narrowed as they locked onto the fidgeting and suddenly unnerved pink haired little girl before me. "Why haven't you?" I demanded of her. "Why are you here, bowing and scraping for pennies while dressed in insulting clothing?" I pressed. Louise flushed and looked away, her draw clenching in reaction to my accusations and demands. "Why?" I hissed at her.

"I don't' know!" she finally broke, clutching her arms tightly around her waist. "Why are you here following my orders if you think those with power should be leading?" she demanded of me desperately trying to turn my accusation back on me.

"Because that is what I'm willing to fight for," I answered my voice no longer confrontational, my response simple. "I've told you before what I would raise my sword for: my ideals, my duty, and my oath. My question for you, Master, is what would you raise your wand for?" Her face lacked understanding, so I elaborated as I rose to stand before her directly, my arms crossed as I stared down at her sitting form. "You would raise it for duty, but for what else? For recognition? For glory and pride? What are your ideals, Louise, what would you fight and die for? What would you kill for?"

Louise fidgeted, the whirlwind conversation having her so off balance that she didn't know what to say. Nonetheless, she had to say something, and in her state it'd be unlikely to be a sophistry or a lie. It would be the honest truth of my Master's will.

"I don't know," she whispered, glancing down in shame.

"What don't you know," I pressed, looming over her.

"I don't know what my ideals are!" she finally broke, shouting at me as tears welled up. "I'm supposed to serve my country and queen, but I don't know anything else then that." Louise's voice broke as her sniffles became more numerous. "I was always raised in a big house, and was always told that I was a failure. I had everything I ever wanted, and no one ever expected anything of me. But now princess Henrietta needs me, and that should be enough, but it's not, because instead of using my magic I'm just losing money and cleaning tables. It feels like I'm just being tossed aside again, and that the princess doesn't believe I can really do anything! And I'm going to keep doing it because it's what I was told to do and I don't know what else to do…"she trailed off, looking miserable.

With a sigh I closed the distance between us and wrapped my arms around her shoulders. She resisted at first, but then surrendered, burying her face into my stomach and clutching at my shirt as she hid her face and cried quietly. "Of course you don't know," I told her in a gentle voice, chiding her. "You're sixteen. No one knows what they want at sixteen."

"Did you?" she asked, her voice muffled both by her tears and by my body. She glanced up at me with wide red eyes as she looked for support, driven by curiosity.

"Actually," I admitted embarrassed by contradicting myself so easily, "I did. But I was a special case," I assured her. Her eyes narrowed up at me in a pout. "But the point I'm trying to make is that other people can afford to be confused at times like this. Honestly, so can you," I assure her. "But you also need to start thinking about what it is you want out of life. If it's enough for you to follow orders and serve your country, that's fine. If you want to break it all off, and seek glory and power for yourself, that's fine too." Louise lowered her eyes back down, and turned so that her cheek rested on my stomach as she finally got control of herself once more, occasionally hiccuping as she did so.

I held on a few minutes more, giving her time to compose herself before I released her and took a step back. My little fragile Master sniffed one more time, surreptitiously wiping her face before composing herself completely. I took the opportunity to change the subject, having already made my point and more than willing to give Louise the time she needed to find the answers she was looking for.

"We need to discuss our strategy for this mission," I supplied, settling down so that I leaned against the wall, one leg up and one sprawled out in front of me. I shrugged Derflinger of my back and held it so that it rested against my shoulder from the front with its hilt by my face and its sheathe rested against my leg as I did so.

"How so?" Louise asked, her hands on her knees as she sat, showing no traces of her recent crying spat besides red eyes.

"As much as it came through pure luck, this seems like a good place to accomplish your task," I explained to her. "Not only are we being seamlessly inserted into the city, we're also being provided with a place to stay and make the money we need to survive. This will probably be far more effective at making us unnoticeable than staying at a hotel and wandering the streets. Besides that, this is a bar. Wine has a way of loosening lips so it should be simple enough for you to gather rumors and intelligence."

"Wine and the girls who're serving it," Louise muttered, flushing lightly as she looked down at the exotic clothing she was still wearing.

"Precisely," I murmured dryly, my mouth cocking into a half grin. "The biggest concern we should have for now is our cover story."

"How so, big brother?" she asked me equally dryly. "Perhaps if we both just refuse to talk about it they'll think we're just siblings running away from a poor family situation?" she suggested.

I snorted at that. "Siblings. Yeah right," I chuckled freely. Louise raised an eyebrow, looking confused at my scorn for my own cover story. There's no doubt she led a very sheltered life, and was probably still dealing with the dogma that had been enforced on her that all commoners were less intelligent and important than nobles. "We don't look anything alike, Louise," I explained. "Besides the height difference there's the hair color, the facial features, our eyes, and even our names. You have a very classical one and mine is in a completely different language. Most likely there isn't a person in the store who bought that story."

"Then what should we do?" Louise asked, gnawing at her lip a little. "Should we come up with another story?"

"Why bother?" I asked sardonically. "They've probably already come up with their own." My explanation was probably too roundabout for her to understand, because she looked even more puzzled by my brush off. "By now they've already pegged you as a noble," I explained, and Louise looked shocked at that. "You're just too well mannered and your reactions are also too sheltered. You don't know the first thing about handling food or pouring wine, not to mention how you acted when the girls were giving you the basics on how to get tips. If you were a country girl, you'd have been a bit embarrassed at it but would have followed their lead. If you were a city girl, you'd have already known most of it. You were embarrassed, but even more you were outraged. By now I'd hazard every girl here knows you're a noble, and they think you're a runaway."

"You don't look worried though," Louise commented watching me closely. I shrugged.

"You wouldn't have been able to pull off any other act. They probably assume you're a runaway, probably from a bad arranged marriage or maybe just out of childish rebellion. The thing that's probably confusing them is me," I admit. "If you're a noble than I'm either a particularly loyal attendant that came along to keep you out of trouble, or I'm your secret lover that you ran away with." Louise snorted at that, looking amused. "This works out in our favor. Yeah, our cover is obviously blown, but rather than suspect we're informants for the queen seeking Albion conspirators they'll make up some fanciful romantic story in their heads. We won't even have to make up a better story, they'll do it for us."

"That's surprisingly devious of you," Louise complimented me, looking impressed. "I thought you preferred to be direct?"

"I do," I admit, shrugging self consciously. "But that doesn't mean I can't pull a sneaky one if I need to." I glanced up at Louise. She looked like she was having trouble keeping her eyes open. It had been a long days work for her, and the emotional scene from a few minutes earlier hadn't helped. "Get some rest, little sister," I told her, trying to get used to her new title in private before we had to start using them in public. "I'll stand guard for now."

"Stand guard?" Louise asked, even as she headed my advice and began stripping her uniform off so that she could change into a simple nightgown Scarron had loaned her. I tried not to think about why he had women's sleeping clothes on hand.

"This place seems to be honest," I informed her, "but there's still a chance they'll try and drug us and sell us off to one of the less savory places." Louise's eyes shot open at that, and she gawked at me. I snorted at the thought too. "A very small chance," I admitted. "But it's better I have a few uncomfortable nights first just to make sure." Louise shook her head at my militant stance, before sliding under her sheets. I put out the lamp, and was sure that she'd be unconscious nearly instantly.

In the dark, I sat patiently, waiting for anything that might happen.

*Scene Break*

It was in the middle of the night, when I was woken from my watchful half doze by Louise climbing into the crook of my arms. She muttered sleepily as she pulled the arm that was holding Derflinger around her like a blanket, and her tiny form nuzzled into the crook of my collar bone.

This wasn't the only time this had happened. The first time she had rested like this was on the trip back from Albion, but on a few occasions in the past she would find her way into this position. I hadn't been sure what to make of it the first few times, but occasionally while she was making herself comfortable she would mutter the name, 'Cattleya'. Until recently I wasn't certain just who this person was, but had assumed it was a sibling or her mother, maybe a favored nanny or governess from her home. Turns out it was the sibling answer. I had at first assumed it was just an old habit of hers from childhood. Now I couldn't help but wonder if it was my fault that she had to seek protection in her sleep. I grimaced at the thought that it was my fault that the dream cycle forced her to seek comfort like this.

Wordlessly, I shifted to make myself the best pillow I could and allowed her to get comfortable.

I was a little surprised when she addressed me sleepily. "Big brother," she murmured. "You looked really happy today, when you were doing the dishes and stuff. Why is that?"

She must be really sleepy if she was focusing on something like that out of nowhere. "It reminds me of simpler times," I told her in a quiet tone. "I guess I just like doing things like that sometimes."

With a sleepy 'fuuuuh', she nodded once more, and then stilled back into sleep.

I shifted my sword so that it guarded my sleeping Master's back more closely, and continued to stare into the dark.

*Scene Break*

_Louise laid quietly against her Servant's chest, feeling the rise and fall of his breath as she pretended to sleep. Internally, she scolded herself for doing this, but for some reason just the act of calling him 'big brother' brought to mind feelings of her actual sisters. It had felt a bit odd at first, but now it felt every bit as natural latching onto Shirou's side as it did her gentle second eldest sister._

_ Well, natural, but still different. When she slept beside Cattleya, she felt warm and comfortable. When she slept beside Shirou, she felt safe and protected. Sleepily she decided to do more research into the discrepancies when she finally made it home for an extended period of time._

_ Still, even as she basked in the sense of security, her mind was jumbled with so many strange thoughts that sleep continued to elude her. Some of those thoughts were about what her Servant had called to mind earlier, about her future and her beliefs. Some of them were about how to complete the mission her princess had given her, how to start milking the patrons for information, how to cover her own initial actions and to blend in with the other girls. It was the stress of these thoughts that had pressed her to ask Shirou just why he looked so happy doing something mundane. He'd looked so content scrubbing a plate that she just had to know how he could relax like that. _

_ Absently she decided that maybe she should take up a hobby herself in order to help deal with the pressures she found building up in her. Maybe she should revisit her old lessons on knitting?_

_ But besides these worries, most of Louise's thoughts were on her Servant: her poor, damaged, self destructive Servant. Since her revelation on to just what how he sought to be reunited with his lover, she'd often found herself thinking of it, the day he would finally find what it was he searched for. The day he fell on the hill of swords._

_ And despite knowing that it was what he longed for, and despite her wish to see Shirou happy and once more with his Saber, with his Arturia, a part of her didn't want that day to come. It was sad that they were separated, true, but it was also sad that one day in order to be back together it would be he and Louise that would separate._

_ 'Stupid big brother,' she thought to herself sleepily, before finally descending into dreams._

_ And in her dreams were swords and battle once more._

_ As she watched Shirou fighting again, this time with fire in his eyes, Louise wondered. With the experience she had gained from these nightly sessions, she had come to see different styles in her Servant when he battled. It called to mind something he had said earlier. _

_ The first style when he fought was anticipation. It was a look he wore only on the fiercest of battle fields, when the odds were greatest against him. It was the look Louise had decided he wore when he was fighting for his oath._

_ The second style was the cold fury that he wore when he prepared to strike down Guiche, when he had actually killed the traitor Wardes, and when he was cutting down the dead that had tried to kidnap princess Henrietta. Louise labeled that the style he used when fighting for his duty._

_ It was the third style, the one that was hot anger, the style he used when they captured Fouquet, the style that had been in every stroke of his blade on the hills he strode before the weight of battle began to weigh down on him. It was the style he used when he was fighting for his ideals._

_ Louise realized with a small amount of surprise that she didn't even know what those were. There were many things she knew about her Servant, things he had told her and things she had pieced together during nights like this. But there were other pieces she still hadn't learned, gaps in her understanding of her Servant. Just what was it that made Shirou what he was now? What had happened to him before all the battles had begun?_

_ And so, as she dreamed of swords and battle, Louise tried to decide the best way to get to know her Servant as more than just a Servant. _


	12. Promised Blades: The Twelfth night

The Hill of Swords: The Twelfth night.

Author's notes: And here it is, the twelfth night. A little longer than some of my others, but I've noticed that as authors tend to get into their stories the chapters end up expanding, so I've had to shrug it off as an inevitable result of my prolonged writing. Let's see, this will end up the "Charming Faerie Inn" segment. A brief note to one of my reviewers who was so disappointed by my last chapter:

Cryogon0, rejoice! I too have been waiting for the chance to write Shirou's visit to Louise's home. It shall happen in the next chapter, maybe the next two if I need to. And yes, featuring prominently in it will be Karin, the Heavy Wind. For those of you who have no idea whom I'm talking about, either hunt down a translation of the book, or wait eagerly on the edge of your seats for the next installment.

In regards to the little mini contest, I've settled on the names I'll be using. I probably won't go back and change everything till the completion of the second arcs. Here they are though:

Arc one: To Be Drawn. A play on both the summoning aspect and the drawing of a sword, this one took me a while to come up with, and I ended up using my own choice for it.

Arc two: Promised Blades. Inspired by techlology's suggestion, which I'm assuming was based off the song "Sword of Promised Victory", right?

Arc three: Distant Utopia. Logan Murder of Crows gets recognition for this one. It just fit perfectly for my planned third arc.

Now that that's done with, a few notes of interest in this particular chapter.

First off, I decided that one of the main comic elements of Familiar of Zero was the romance/sexual situations that Saito invariably brought about due to his own healthy adolescent male perversion. I was looking to add comedic elements myself to this chapter, but found Shirou didn't exactly lend into the original scenario too well. And thus was born the growing legend of Shirou's prowess. Poor Shirou.

The defining aspect of this chapter though is of course the interaction between Shirou and Henrietta. I'm actually really happy with the way this scene turned out. That and the piece at the end, when I got a chance to play Shirou and Agnes' pasts against each other. Honestly, the similarity there is just too much for me to resist.

The last part that I'd like to call attention to is the dream sequence at the end. I think that too many people play off Shirou's origin as something negligible or unimportant. They treat it as something to just be noted casually in the background. Well, I hope my attempt at describing the scene shows just what I think of that train of thought. Shirou gets called several time in the game on his strangely warped personal nature. I hope this gives an idea into just how I see Shirou, canon or not, coming to be as he is.

And oh yeah! You can't help but feel a bit sorry for Shirou in this chapter. He keeps trying, but he just can't fit the food scene in, no matter his efforts... Once more, poor Shirou.

Got an opinion that's different? Feel free to tell me about it in reviews. Just want to call something on your favorite part, or maybe just offer a suggestion? Also, feel free to review as well.

Now, enjoy the story.

*Story Start*

"Well Shirou," Jessica said with a look of surprise on her face. "I stand corrected. It looks like you really can cook!"

"I know you mentioned it before," Louise agreed, looking down at the plate in front of her with an expression of equal surprise as Jessica. The three of us were stationed in the back, waiting for the last hour to pass till the store opened for the days business. It had taken me three weeks of toil, but I'd finally earned my moment in the kitchen. And I must say, so far the outlook is good for repeat encounters. The pink haired girl took another forkful and placed it into her mouth, as though to affirm the revelation she had just a moment ago with the last fork. "But I certainly didn't expect it to be on this level. This is nearly as good as your tea," she complimented me.

"Thank you, sis," I told her dryly. Jessica also looked at Louise with an amused expression. Louise seemed to realize that she had just implied that she had never eaten her brother's cooking despite the fact that the two of us hypothetically lived together and ran away together. Rather than try to backtrack or make an excuse, Louise just rolled her eyes and kept eating.

"You two realize you're not fooling anyone, right?" Jessica asked, glancing between the two of us.

"What ever do you think she means little sister?" I asked Louise, affecting a shocked look on my face.

"Why, I don't know, big brother," Louise said, a look of equal fake startlement on her face. Jessica puffed up her cheeks in annoyance, glancing back and forth between the two of us. Just as I had predicted on our first night here, there wasn't a worker in the inn that really believed the two of us were actually related. After a few days working here I'd expected some kind of confrontation about it, but none ever came. The impression I got was that we weren't the only two who had some kind of history behind us working here. I'd noticed some of the girls here with a few tell tale signs of past violence. One of them, Mary, a kindly though restrained girl, had scars all up and down her back. Her costumes always had to provide full coverage to keep them from the eyes of the customers, but I'd caught sight of them by accident a few days ago. It seemed the rule of the Charming Faerie Inn was 'no prying'.

Well, for everyone except Jessica. At first I thought it was because she was the unofficial manager of the girls, and was desperate to know so that she could prepare in case we brought down trouble in the form of other angry nobles searching for us. Then I thought it might be because she was trying to be a shoulder to cry on in case Louise needed help adjusting to the commoner lifestyle.

And then I realized that Jessica was just an insanely curious busy body.

"How did you get the meat so tender?" Louise asked, ignoring the pouting Jessica as she continued to eat.

"Well, I'm glad you asked," I said, even as I finished serving myself and sat down. "The trick is that after the original cut, you have to first…."

"So were you the chef at the manor before you two ran away together?" Jessica interrupted shamelessly, leaning in and eying the two of us desperately for some sign of recognition at her accusation. She had taken to doing this recently. Jessica would wait till I was in the middle of something, and then make an accusation, trying to get some kind of reaction out of me so that she could try to piece together what Louise and mine relationship really was. It seemed that was what was really eating away at the city girl. Louise was easy to figure out, but her inability to place precisely what I am had nearly driven Jessica to chewing her nails.

So far I've been accused of being a mercenary, a sister's fiancé, a stable boy, a butler, a tailor for some reason, a wondering circus performer, a gardener, and a bartender. Now I could add chef to the list.

"As I was saying," I continued as though she hadn't spoken, causing Jessica to start fuming. "After the original cut you have to take the meat and…"

"Please!" Jessica interrupted again, leaning forward and clasping her hands together in supplication. "I promise I won't tell! I just have to know!" the scorned girl nearly cried as she begged.

I had continued talking even as she spoke, paying her no mind. "…and then once you've finished that step you have to lay it out carefully and use a little…"

"If you tell me I'll let you have my body!" Jessica finally offered, leaning back and tugging at her low cut blouse provocatively in a move that was vaguely reminiscent of Kirche. Despite myself I broke off my explanation so that I could raise an eyebrow at Jessica. I'd come to learn that city girls in this land were a lot more direct than country girls, even considering how direct country girls could be, but this was just pushing it. Then I noticed Jessica's eyes darting back and forth between me and Louise. It appeared she was just offering to try and provoke a reaction out of Louise. If Louise got indignant, then Jessica was apparently prepared to finally mark me down in the 'lover' category. If the pink haired girl didn't react, then it was likely that Jessica would finally be able to write me off in the 'attendant' option instead.

Louise carefully hid a small smirk using a sip of wine to cover her mouth. "Oh no!" she said, affecting an innocent look. "You don't understand! My brother is just too much man for one woman! He could never be satisfied by just you alone!"

Jessica gaped at my Master, and I sighed, sinking my head into my hands as I did so. "This is because of what I said about your sweater, isn't it?" I accused the pink haired girl, sounding betrayed. Ever since we started working at the inn, Louise had for some reason began practicing her knitting again. It brought to mind something she said before, about how her marital skills used to be equated with her magic skills; Louise had come along way with her magic but still had far to go when it came to her domestics.

So when I had come into the room one night, all unaware, and found what looked like some kind of strange yarn composed tentacle monstrosity apparently attempting to devour my little Master I had reacted by attacking it with Derflinger. After the dust had settled, she had explained that the strange abomination was supposed to be a sweater. I had explained that sweater or not the Root be damned thing had nearly won the battle anyway. Louise hadn't taken me pointing out that little fact very well at all.

"Why, my dear brother, I have no idea what you're talking about," she said, a satisfied smile on her face as she turned back to her plate.

"I already have enough of those rumors floating around about me back where we came from," I complained, not willing to let it go before I had the chance to gripe properly. Siesta had never quite forgotten Louise's love potion offer. The maid was shrewder than she let on most of the time. She had known that Louise had insider information on me, and managed to come to the conclusion that the reason Louise had offered in the first place was that her addled mind had decided I'd like that kind of thing. She'd even gone as far as offering to convince her cousin, the one she exchanged letters with that was trying to convince her to use the love potion on me, to join in just as long as Siesta herself was the one I settled down with in the end. It had taken me half a day to convince her that I really wasn't interested.

Unfortunately it appeared that Kirche had heard some of the conversation, and I had it under very good authority from my scaly insiders that the Germanian red head had upped her attempts to get Tabitha interested herself. I blessed the Root and made an offering of a sacrificed orc that had wandered to close to the castle that the Gallian girl hadn't caved in yet. I was planning on bribing Sylphid to somehow interfere with the ongoing negotiations in order to nip that little plan in the bud.

Guiche had initially made some problems, spreading rumors to a few of the other boys, but he was exceptionally easy to deal with. It had only taken one 'incentive' training session to shut him up.

"So wait," Jessica interrupted again, standing and pointing at the two of us triumphantly. "That means…" the brunette trailed off, her eyes widening as she realized that the declaration was inconclusive. It could mean that Louise wasn't involved with me, but had been around me long enough to know about my supposed sex life. But then again, it could mean that Louise was involved with me and was just trolling for another partner to throw into the mix. The city girl fell back onto her chair, gritting her teeth and emitting an audible growl as she started to pull on her hair, trying to figure out just which of the two options it was.

I sighed, taking another bite of the meal I had prepared. It looked like no one was interested in me explaining the cooking anymore. Pity. I was just getting to the good parts.

*Scene Break*

"Stupid Jessica," I muttered as I lugged the half full sack of garbage and scraps out the back door of the inn. "Just because I won't tell her whether or not Louise was serious about the threesome crack. My cooking was freaking divine! If the Water Spirit itself were to walk in here, accompanied by the anthropological incarnation of the Root and Zelretch himself I could have confidently walked up, slapped down a plate, and all three of them would have bowed to me." Grumbling under my breath, I emptied the bin out into a larger dumpster.

It seemed a little strange, for a medieval town to have a dumpster in it. Initially, I had been more than a little put off by the strangely modern convenience. Curious, I had asked Louise about it. It seemed as though where in modern Japan, the garbage was collected and assembled elsewhere to either be recycled or buried, in Tristain it was all dragged off to be burnt. It was a public works that had been set into motion nearly a century ago by the current princess' great grandfather, and the collection and disposal of the garbage was a way to both supply employment to second sons of nobility who had no chance of inheriting anything worthwhile, and a duty to assign other nobles who just happened to piss off the wrong person. For those poor upstanding nobles the pay was remarkably well, often enough for the young men or women to go off far away after only a year and pretend they never had to do it in the first place. For those who got assigned to the task because of a personal vendetta, it was the most demeaning and hated task in the country.

As was my habit my eyes traced the alley's length as I exited the back door of the bar. Though the Charming Faerie Inn itself was a relatively clean and respectable establishment, the location that it was located in was marginally less clean and respectable. Most of the trips I took out to empty the garbage and retrieve wine were peaceful and quiet. But there had been two or three times where some drunkard or vagrant had been lingering behind the store. It had been common for these trips to have been run by Scarron himself before my arrival. Ever since I joined the staff, it had fallen to me to handle it. In the beginning, Jessica had apparently been a bit worried about my ability to handle myself, so she had accompanied me. That lasted until the first time one of the customers who had gotten a little too drunk and grabby in the store proper had tried to linger in the back for a second chance at one of the girls.

Jessica had managed to stop me before I had to toss him into the dumpster to be taken care of later, but unless the poor slob knew a good water mage, he wasn't going to be healed up anytime soon. After that, Jessica had insisted that I not carry Derflinger around with me in the shop, and the few times that Louise had gotten in trouble had made sure to stand between me and the floor proper until Scarron managed to calm things down.

She made sure to keep a mop nearby just in case I slipped by her. I think it was as much the threat of having to clean up after myself as it was the pure amusement I found from watching Scarron take care of things himself that had spared a few of the more persistent offenders in the past.

Not seeing anything particularly interesting, I went about my business. It was while I was locking up the wine cellar after retrieving the next load needed that I noticed the cloaked figure hovering on the edge of the alley. They were heavily shrouded in a thick dark cape that concealed them completely.

I casually put down the cask of wine that I had placed over my shoulder, and put my hand on Derflinger. Though I wasn't allowed to wear it like I normally did in the store, I drew the line on leaving it up in my room. I had compromised with management by keeping it carefully wrapped in thick cloth as I carried it with me.

"Can I help you?" I asked the robed figure calmly, making no threatening moves but remaining firm as I regarded them carefully.

"Excuse me," the robed figure said, its voice muffled as it emerged from the depths of the hood. "I'm looking for the 'Charming Faerie Inn'. Is it perhaps located nearby?"

"Indeed," I affirmed, regarding them carefully but answering politely. "This is the back alley behind it. If you exit the way you came, and take a right turn, then you will come across the entrance proper."

"So this is indeed it?" the voice raised, sounding relieved. When it was a little louder I began to realize that it sounded familiar. Using a quick bit of reinforcement to my eyes and ears, I peered more closely at the shadows of the hood. "That is a relief," the figure continued. Yup. Definitely familiar. The figure raised its head a bit more, and then seemed to recognize me as well.

"Good evening, your highness," I greeted her politely. "This is a strange place to be running across you."

"Ah!" princess Henrietta's voice sighed in relief. A clatter emerged from the front of the alley, and the robed figure tensed. Moving quickly, she darted till she was hiding behind me, using my body to shelter herself from being seen from the street. Voices raised in excitement echoed down to where the two of us were. "Mr. Servant," the princess of the realm said, her voice soft, "is there a place nearby where I can hide?"

*Scene Break*

"Will this do for now, your highness?" I asked as I led the still cloaked Henrietta into the small attic room Louise and I were currently living in.

"Yes, it should," she responded, finally lowering her hood. Her hair, a dark shade that hovered between being brunette and black and ended up looking almost purple in the light shone briefly in the candlelight as she did so. Beneath her robe she was wearing a dress of pure white, which must be a nightmare to keep clean in a land that lacked things like bleach and laundry machines. One more example of the decadence of high society I imagine. "Thank you, Mr. Servant," she said, offering me a smile. Her smile had improved since the last few times I had seen her. It seemed that every time I met Henrietta, she was sad. The first time, she had been regretting the formality that Louise was showing her. The second time, she was regretting a letter she had sent to a lover. The third time, she had been weeping over the same lovers thrice dead corpse.

This time however, the smile was firmer, and full of genuine relief. Definitely an improvement over the last three.

"Please, your highness," I assured her. "Call me Shirou, or perhaps Emiya if you wish."

"Ah," the princess murmured. If anyone else had said it in that tone it would have been a gasp, but princess Henrietta was apparently too well raised to properly gasp. "Yes, that is right. Your name was Shirou Emiya, was it not?" she asked, sounding uncertain. I didn't blame her. Yes, I had introduced myself, but it was a while back and only an act done in passing. It's no surprise that she hadn't been paying particularly close attention at the time.

"Indeed," I confirmed, trying to remember all the lessons on etiquette Louise had spent her time drilling into me. "If you would remain here, I shall go gather my Master so that you can meet with her properly." I bowed as I spoke, and when I straightened started to head towards the door.

"Please, stop," Henrietta entreated me, sounding panicked in her effort to keep me from leaving. I drew to a halt, surprised. "It is not Louise that I came here to see," she continued, her voice well paced as she explained.

I regarded her for a moment, bit back my initial response which was probably too direct, and tried again. "If I may be so bold, if you're not here to see my Master, then may I assume that it was myself which brought you here?" I asked. She had come seeking this inn specifically. It stood to reason that the only ones she knew here were Louise and myself, and if one of those two was ruled out, the other stood to be the one she was looking for.

"Yes," Henrietta affirmed. She glanced down, appearing demure yet still maintaining the aura of true nobility. It was something I had noticed before in this world. Yes, there were a good number of those so called 'nobles' who were nothing more than pigs with wands just begging to be put down like the swine they were. But on occasion I had found that some of these 'nobles' actually carried themselves to a higher standard and strived to personify the ideals and dignity that their entire class was supposed to have. My Master was one of them. So too, it seemed, was Henrietta. "Forgive me for troubling you so, but I have found myself in need of a bodyguard that is not associated with the palace until tomorrow. From Louise's reports, I had been able to affirm your location, and you were the only one upon whom I could rely upon."

I knit my brow and regarded the monarch carefully. "I am not opposed to the position," I admitted, knowing full well that I could handle being a bodyguard easily. "But I'm afraid that my obligation remains solely to that of my Master, Louise," I reminded her. She grimaced delicately; though I wasn't quite sure how a grimace could be delicate she somehow managed to pull it off. "Unless you can give me compelling reason not to, I shall have to first ensure that my absence would not be an undue strain upon her."

"I would prefer not to trouble Louise Francoise with something so trivial," Henrietta dissembled.

"Not good enough, your highness," I told her, folding my arms and standing resolute. She blinked in surprise at my blunt assessment of her excuse. "I've told you before, that my only loyalty lies with my Master. If you cannot give me a better reason, than I shall promptly take this decision to her so that she can make it as is appropriate."

I had thought that my rude tone of voice would throw the princess off. Instead, Henrietta smiled warmly at it. "Indeed," she murmured, sounding content at my reasoning. "If only more amongst the castle were as steadfast in their loyalty as yourself," she commented, sounding a bit bitter. "Very well. Investigations have been underway as to precisely how the…" she hesitated, "kidnappers," she finally settled on as the descriptive term for the dead that had lured her away from her palace, "managed to penetrate past the guards enough for them to make contact with me. All evidence points to a particular person."

"Then why have they not been arrested yet?" I questioned, eying her carefully. She grimaced.

"Due to this person's position," and I got the impression that it was a high position indeed, "the evidence gathered would be insufficient in the courts to properly justify his arrest."

"And you want me to take care of him, off the record?" I finished, cocking my head as I did so. Henrietta smiled warmly at my offer.

"Unfortunately, no," she turned it down. "In these times it is better for him to be properly prosecuted as an example of those who would conspire against the crown." She paused and then glanced to the side sheepishly for a moment. "Besides, I have already promised his life to another," she murmured. Before I had a chance to follow that line of thought she continued. "Instead I have arranged a similar disappearance, and arranged for his actions to be watched carefully."

"Which explains why you're out and about by yourself, and why you can't have a guard associated with the castle," I finished, nodding slowly.

"Yes," Henrietta confirmed, and then gave me a worried glance. "Is this sufficient enough reason for you to assist me, Shirou?" she looked nervous now. I don't know why. Even if it wasn't I'm almost certain that Louise wouldn't hesitate to order me to do so in an instant. She'd probably come along as well. Still, even with just myself along, the danger was minimal. I could handle a squad or two of men easily, and the princess herself was no slouch when it came to magic too.

I rubbed my forehead and sighed. "Yes, it is sufficient, your highness," I assured her, but continued before she could say anything. "But understand that I'm only doing this because your plan is already underway. In the future, if you have not first confirmed my presence with Louise, then do not count on it being available," I told her, my voice firm and unrelenting. Henrietta lowered her eyes and nodded, excepting my rebuke easily despite her royalty. In fact, she looked quite pleased by it. If this whole ruse was designed to root out the disloyal, than I guess her appreciation for my own loyalty was appropriately high.

"Very well then," she agreed. Standing, she removed her covering robe and turned her back to me, her fingers busy on her dress. "Then there is no more time to waste here. Is there some of Louise's clothes which could be used to make me appear as a commoner?"

Answering verbally as her back was turned I confirmed it. "Yes." Now that I had committed to this act there was no more time for delaying. Moving quickly I began to root through Louise's belongings, trying to find something appropriate. Settling on a plane blouse and skirt I turned back to the princess. She had already disrobed nearly completely, having nothing more on then her white lacy undergarments. With no regard to her own modesty she turned to me and accepted the bundle I offered her.

I paid her near nudity no attention either. This had effectively become a combat operation in my mind, and the first sacrifice to combat is almost always modesty. I shucked off my apron as well, and moved to unwrap Derflinger so that I could wear it properly. I grimaced a bit as my finger brushed the hilt and my runes shown once more. I really needed to do something about them. They were just too conspicuous.

Luckily, even as I finished unwrapping the sword I spotted something just barely peeking out from Louise's belongings. With a curious glance, I tugged it free. It appeared to have been another attempt at a sweater. Made out of course blue wool it looked as though my little Master hadn't quite managed to remember or correct all her techniques yet, because it more accurately resembled a long blue tube then an actual garment. It appeared as though she had managed to get both the sleeves together and then forgot whatever stitch it was that let her change her angle enough to make the rest of the sweater proper. It was strangely heavy, and the ends of the arms were loose, while the front itself had appeared to be open as well.

I narrowed my eyes in consideration, before deciding to give it a try. I slipped both my arms into the sleeves from the open end, and once they were through all the way hooked some of the loose weave around my middle fingers. The end result was that it covered both of the backs of my hands with enough cloth to effectively block the light of the runes out. With a glance down I managed to locate two loose threads at the front, and used the conspicuous things to tie the strange garment closed. The end result was rough looking, but gave the appearance of a peasant whom had simply managed to find a utilitarian use for an otherwise irreparably damaged piece of clothes.

I turned back to Henrietta. She had donned the clothes I had supplied her, but come across a bit of difficulty herself.

"It is rather tight," she commented, sounding uncomfortable. I didn't blame her. It looked tight.

"I'm afraid that your build is a bit more…" I paused seeking a proper way to say that the princess was stacked, "developed," I settled on, "then my Master." I regarded her carefully, and then offered some advice. "Take of your bra and leave the top few buttons undone. That should be more comfortable."

"Is that entirely proper?" Henrietta asked, even as she moved to obey. I looked around for a hair tie, found an appropriate one and went behind the princess so that I could set her hair up as she finished changing.

"No," I admitted bluntly. "But if the guards are too busy staring at your cleavage than they're even less likely to remember your face."

"Indeed," Henrietta nodded, not looking at all embarrassed about the deception. It seemed that her upbringing might have been a little less sheltered than Louise's despite the fact that it was in a palace. She turned to me and I studied her disguise. Not only was she more developed in the chest than Louise, she was also taller. The end result was that her breasts were rather prominently displayed, and that her skirt was high on her thighs. Combined with her hair being up in the ponytail I had placed it in and the princess now looked more like a common city girl who was trolling for company. It seemed like I would be more likely to have to fight off male attention that guard attention. "Then let us not linger here any further," Henrietta commanded. I nodded my response.

*Scene Break*

"Will this room be suitable, your high…" was as far as I got out before Henrietta shot me a stern look. "Ann?" I finished, using the princess' nick name instead of her title.

"Yes," she assured me, even as she glanced around. "This will be most adequate."

I could see why. This place was a heap. If I was out and about looking for a princess, it certainly wouldn't be in a room barely bigger than the attic one Louise and I shared back at the inn. This place was filthy, the window barely able to shut properly, and the only light source in here was a lamp that was so soot stained that I couldn't help but wonder exactly what they were burning in it for fuel.

"Very well then, Ann," I answered, shutting the door behind me as she swept into the room easily walking the small space carefully and checking the beaten up old furniture that was provided here. The only thing that didn't look like it was going to fall apart in here was the bed, and that was mainly because all four of the legs on it were already broken off. I moved over to the lamp, brining out a small box of matches as I went. Even the one light source, as small and shaded as it was, was enough to adequately fill the room.

As Henrietta took a seat on the bed, I pulled one of the rickety chairs from its place in the corner and stationed it nearby and facing the door. Still, even as I started my vigil, I found myself glancing over at the princess as she sat awkwardly near me.

Honestly, I was impressed.

We had been stopped on the way over her no less than three times. At the first one, I had been willing to put on a little show, cast down eyes, proper deference, stuttering fear in their presence, the typical response of a poor tired commoner in front of an armed noble as he made his way home with his girl.

Henrietta on the other hand had a completely different plan. Truthfully, it probably worked better than the one I had come up with. When we were about to come across our first road block she had surreptitiously ordered me to wrap an arm around her shoulder. When I complied she had then wrapped her arms around me and began to shamelessly seduce me. That alone would have probably been enough to divert suspicion away, but the moment the guards had began to finish the persons being checked in front of us, she had brazenly slipped one of my hands down into her shirt between her breasts.

Needless to say, not a guard there remembered our faces. I wouldn't be surprised if they could recall the exact number of scars on the back of my hand though.

That kind of a cool head under fire, combined with her absolute dedication to her task that fueled her even to give up her body for her cause was what had caused my respect to notch up a few points. I had probably been the only one there who had actually glanced at her face while we passed, and though she was wearing a mask of passion, her eyes spoke another story entirely.

Her blue eyes had been as sharp as a knife in the moonlight. There was definitely steel in the princess. I was surprised by that. So far nothing I'd seen of her had been particularly promising. That wasn't to say that I had thought her a bad person or somehow ineffective as a leader. I had just assumed that mediocrity had been the name of her game before tonight.

As I made myself comfortable the soft patter of rain on the wooden window casement began to pick up. "Will we be remaining the night here, Ann?" I asked, settling down for the guard duty I was expecting to have to hold for the rest of the probably sleepless night. I might be able to half doze later if I need to, but I was guarding pretty much the top brass in this country. Better to try and do it all conscious.

"Yes," she answered, her tone hitching. I glanced over to see if she had noticed anything in particular to catch her attention, but instead found her slumping over with her arms folded against her chest as she glanced over at the window occasionally.

"Is something the matter?" I asked, regarding her carefully. I hadn't sensed any assassins nearby, but I was willing to admit that there could be some properly concealed. Henrietta was the water user, so maybe she had some spell that could use the ambient water to detect something I couldn't.

"It is the rain," Henrietta admitted, sounding embarrassed and refusing to meet my eyes. "Ever since," she paused and shudder went through her, "that night it has brought to mind the memories of those who died for my foolishness." She grimaced, sounding ashamed of both her actions and her childish fear.

"Ah," I acknowledged, making no judgments. "Sometimes things will linger like that for a while," I consoled her, and she glanced up at me in surprise.

"Truly?" she asked, sounding relieved that I was familiar with what she was going through and wasn't about to judge her summarily.

"Yes," I acknowledged, turning my attention back to the door. "Given enough time it will pass, so long as you work up the courage to confront it soon enough."

"Ah," Henrietta said, sighing at my lack of an instant cure for her. The rain picked up, the sound of droplets of water striking wood increasing, and she shivered again. "Please," she asked suddenly, as she shrank in on herself further. "Could you do something for me?"

"What is it, Ann?" I asked politely. She glanced down, flushing in shame before she answered.

"Could you hold my shoulders tightly till it passes?" She knew the request was the kind of thing that a kid would give their parents when the child was woke in the middle of the night by lightning, but apparently she was still desperate enough for some measure of consolation that she made it anyway.

"As you wish," I told her, making sure to keep my tone non-judgmental. I stood from the chair, and moved to sit on her right side. Holding the sheathed Derflinger in my left hand, I wrapped my arm around her, making sure to keep the swords hilt in easy drawing distance of my right hand. It was a position that allowed me to quickly draw if needed to, or even cover her body with my own if a surprise attack came about. Though she glanced at the sheath curiously, she said nothing. Instead the princess leaned against me gratefully, resting her head against my side.

Slowly, she unwrapped her arms from around herself and clenched both of them into my shirt as she let my presence guard her.

"Thank you," she whispered sounding too grateful for the comfort to feel regret at its necessity.

"You're welcome," I answered her simply. I glanced down, and decided to try and distract her by talking to her for a bit. "If it makes you feel any better, I had a similar irrational fear once, a while back," I offered her.

"Ah," she murmured, glancing up at me. "Is that so?" She smiled gratefully, recognizing what I was attempting to do and thanking me for it without words. "If you don't mind, what precisely was it?"

"Lunchboxes," I told her bluntly, already expecting her response and preparing myself for it.

She blinked at me, and then looked like she was trying to decide if I was teasing her. "Lunchboxes?" she asked, looking as though she didn't really believe me for a moment.

"Lunchboxes," I confirmed, nodding seriously. "It dates back to when I was learning the sword," I went on to explain, knowing that there was no way she was going to believe I was being serious without getting the back-story here. "My instructor wanted to end the lessons early that day, and I wanted to continue a bit longer. When pressed I told her that I was out of food. That made her quite upset." Henrietta warmed up to the tale, cocking her head against me so she could watch my face as I explained. "As it turned out, the reason she wanted to stop was because she was hungry."

"She?" Henrietta interjected, seeking confirmation on the gender of my sword instructor. This land was pretty gender biased when it came to certain roles, so it didn't surprise me.

"She," I confirmed, nodding solemnly. "She was a very petite woman, but without a doubt the best swordsman I've ever come across. I was lucky that I was able to receive her instruction." I paused. "Shall I continue the story?" Henrietta nodded, her attention already plucked. She wasn't even registering the rain at the moment. "As I was saying, it turned out that she was hungry. Back then, I was a great deal less wise than I am now, so I assumed the most amusing course of action would be to tease her for it," I winced as I admitted my youthful idiocy.

"How ungentlemanly," Henrietta scolded me, smiling slightly at the image I painted.

"I was leaning towards 'stupid' as the best description for it, but ungentlemanly works too," I confirmed for her, giving a too solemn nod that actually managed to set her to giggling. "It turned out that she didn't really have a sense of humor when it came to such things. She made a rather pointed demonstration of her displeasure known." I winced at the memory. An angry Saber, in full armor, and wielding Torashinai. Quite possibly my most terrifying memory. Ever. "When I showed her that I had packed lunchboxes in an effort to distract her long enough to try and escape, it made her even angrier, and the lunchboxes got worked in to her demonstration." My voice was perfectly bland, though my lip had curled into something that was half a grimace at the painful memory, and half amusement at what in retrospect really was kind of funny.

Henrietta seemed to find it amusing enough at least. She was quivering slightly and looking away in the effort to hide her mirth from me.

"Yeah yeah, laugh it up, Ann," I told her dryly. Just a little more. "It took me months before I could eat at anything but a table after that."

The admission was enough to drive her over the edge, and she desperately buried her face in my side again in an ineffectual attempt to conceal her giggling from me. I rolled my eyes. At least she wasn't worried about the rain anymore.

*Scene Break*

It was sometime later, when the rain had finally trailed off, that Henrietta finally pulled herself away from me. She had stopped giggling sometime ago, but made no move to withdraw herself from me so long as it was still raining. I understood.

My own fears, as inane as they were, had taken me a while to get over too.

"Thank you," the princess said to me, smiling warmly as she did so. "Again I was helped by you."

"You're welcome," I told her. Briefly I wondered which she considered the other time. Was it when I helped retrieve the letter with Louise? Or was it when I was instrumental in helping to stop her from being kidnapped? Or when I stopped her from harming Louise? Or maybe when I called her over so she could have her last few moments with the dead prince Wales?

In the end, it didn't matter which she considered the time she was thanking me for.

It was at that moment, before the conversation could really start up again, that someone started hammering at the door.

"Open! This is the royal guard. In the name of the palace we are conducting a search of these premises. Open immediately for inspection," a stern sounding voice called from the other side of the thin rickety door. I grimaced.

"Perhaps if we stayed silent?" Henrietta asked, her previous moment of weakness forgotten. Her eyes were once again like daggers as she began calculating possible plans of action.

"If they have even an ounce of duty in them they're not going to buy that while their princess is missing," I told her dryly. I placed the thumb of my left hand under the hilt of Derflinger ready to use it to break the seal on the sheath so that I could draw. "What are your orders, Ann?" I asked her. If needed I could fight them off and we could escape, but not without me most likely hurting or killing a few of them. It would be hard to get away afterwards, and if Henrietta was identified than I'd be labeled the kidnapper. The lethality of their attacks would increase accordingly, and my own duty to shield her from the attacks would increase their effectiveness.

Henrietta grimaced as she too seemed to come to this conclusion. Her jaw set, and she declared firmly. "Then it can't be helped."

"What do you…?" was as far as I got before my eyebrows shot up. In one smooth motion Henrietta had untucked her blouse and began to unbutton it. Even as she fumbled with the last button with one hand she leaned over me, wrapped one arm around my neck, forced me to the bed, and then unceremoniously shoved her tongue in my mouth. "Mph?" I managed to get out.

I have to admit that I certainly hadn't expected that. Still, even as she began to caress me with her other hand, her uncovered front pressing against me, I understood. This princess definitely had steel in her, if she was so willing to use her body as a weapon like this. Giving into the ruse, I wrapped my own arms around her, placing them on her hip and shoulder delicately.

Sure enough when the guards broke down the door just like at the road block I'm positive that not a guard there remembered the faces of those in the room. They had other things to look at that they'd probably be able to recall in perfect detail at a later date.

Still, another difficulty began to arise. I'm positive the two of them were so engrossed in, how to put this, carefully studying the scene in order to ensure there were no fugitives hiding under the bed that they had probably forgotten to leave in the first place. They lingered watching for so long that I began to contemplate whether or not letting my hands wander would be enough to shock them back into decency, or whether it would just encourage them to stay and watch longer and force us to up the ante.

Finally though, one of them managed to pull himself back together long enough to drag the other one who was still enjoying himself a little too much out with him. The door they had kicked open swung shut behind them. Unfortunately it now no longer had a lock so it didn't properly close.

Thankful that the watchers were now gone, this unfortunately made me aware of another problem that was developing.

When Henrietta didn't stop kissing me immediately, I figured sure, she was just making sure the guards had really left. When the time between them leaving and her not stopping had extended to two or three minutes, I figured, hey, she must be giving them time to clear the floor. When we had the ten minute mark, I was running dry on excuses for her still having her tongue attempting to count my fillings.

Finally, when I was beginning to genuinely worry, she managed to drag herself away from me. Still on top of me, she rested her forehead on mine, staring down at me with wide eyes and flushed cheeks.

My own ocular organs and facial muscles were similarly conditioned by this point.

"Ann?" I asked, my voice uncharacteristically soft for me. Root damn it. Root damn it and the Blue finish it off, but it had been a long time since I'd had a woman in my arms that wasn't just there to sleep, or was being carried off a battlefield in pain, or I was just sheltering or guiding. I knew this was a ruse used to safeguard our secrecy, but Root damn it, it had been a very, very, long time.

"Shirou," she breathed, her own voice husky with passion. She glanced down, her cheeks flushing further, before apparently coming to a decision. Her lips found mine again, and then traced their way upwards till they found my ear. "Shirou," she repeated. "Do you have a lover?"

The room was hot. The humidity from the rain, combined with the cramped nature of it, added to the body heat the two of us being in close proximity for an extended period of time had added to it. I could feel the sweat from my own body, combined with the warmth and moisture of the partially undressed one on top of me pressing down. It went to my head, making me feel like my brain had been stuffed with wool, like I should forget the talking, flip over this soft thing on top of me so that she was under me, and pick right up where the two of us had let off.

Instead, I simply laid still and answered her. "Yes," I told her. "I do."

Henrietta trembled briefly on top of me, and then the strength seemed to go out of her. Her full weight pressed against me as she rested. "I see," she said sadly. "At the school? Louise, perhaps?" she asked, her voice tremulous.

"No," I told her honestly. "Back in my homeland."

Tension returned to the princess. "Then you have been separated for some time? Since you were brought here?" she asked, her voice soft with her lips still next to my ear.

Despite myself, I let out a rueful chuckle. "It has been even longer than that since I have been with her," I admitted, my voice laced with a trace of bitterness in it. "It has been years since I felt her touch," I acknowledged. I don't know why. Perhaps it was the wool in my head that forced the confession out of me. Perhaps it was the endless battles, with none of the comfort of a warm hearth waiting for me afterwards. Perhaps it was just this soft girl that rested on me. Perhaps I just wanted to confide in someone who had already confided in me. Who knows.

"So long," she murmured, making no move to get off of me. The moment had become something intimate. It felt like the two of us had been cut off, removed entirely from the rest of the world, that the entire universe consisted of nothing more than the two of us and this cheap dirty room.

"She had duties," I said, halfheartedly explaining. Remembering my own, I removed one hand from Henrietta, the one that had moved dangerously close to places on her that it had no right being close to during the heat of passion, and instead placed it on the hilt of Derflinger. "She was a king, you know," I told her, surprising even myself. Why had I said that?

"A king?" Henrietta moved next to me, and I could feel her facing me directly, her eyes inches from my own as they stared up to the ceiling. She studied me curiously, her breath caressing my cheeks as she did so. "Don't you mean a queen?" she asked.

Dear Root, we hadn't even done the deed and we're already exchanging pillow talk about past lovers. "A king," I confirmed the title. "She was the only daughter of the previous king. In her land it is only men who can rule. The king at the time gave her to one of his loyal knights, concealing her birth completely. She was raised as a boy, learning the ways of the sword and chivalry." My voice was soft as I explained the past of my dear Arturia. "When her father died, apparently without heir, there was a task set to determine who would be the next ruler. Concealing her gender, she completed it and assumed the throne."

"And the deception lasted?" Henrietta asked, her voice soft and tired, but still laced with curiosity. I wonder what she felt, hearing the tales of another young queen. Perhaps she saw some connection between herself and my Saber.

"She was naturally small, and her sword work kept her thin of frame," I admitted. "When it appeared that she was not aging, the people declared that she was a holy figure, granted eternal youth as a boy due to her divine nature."

"Yes," Henrietta agreed drowsily. "The people are often quick to declare their leaders holy." I glanced at her. One of the rumors that had begun circulating after the fields of Tarbes was that the princess had won the battle through the grace of god, and that she was a holy leader on their crusade against the vile Albion. It was the kind of political tripe that was good for rousing the population and ensuring civil compliance during crusades. Though at the moment Henrietta's eyes were more sleepy than anything else, they still held a trace of self contempt at the manipulation.

Henrietta finally shifted from where she lay against me. Rather than pull herself away and fastening her blouse, she instead dragged herself down my body till her head could rest against my chest. Turning her head to the side, she laid herself flush on top of me.

"Shirou," she said, her voice soft. "I have one last selfish request to make. For tonight, could you hold me as a lover?"

"Ann?" I said, my voice low, and though it was soft it held a hint of warning.

"Not to take me as a lover," she assured me, still soft. "Just hold me as one for the night. Though I am the princess, I am still a woman, and I miss the warmth of one beside me as I rest." She tightened her hold on me slightly. "Please, forgive this shameless request of mine," she whispered.

I lay still for a moment. I could understand the sentiment. There were times when I too would lay awake at night, feeling very alone. Though I felt my own feelings were a bit different from hers.

Though I was a man, I was also a sword. At times, I missed the reprieve from battle that my scabbard provided me with.

I rolled onto my side, placing my arms around the lonely princess as I did so. She accepted my action, burying herself in my warmth gratefully. Despite my acquiescence, I still had a job to do. Using the sheathed Derflinger, I pushed the still swinging door all the way shut, and then used the sheath to drag the chair I had been sitting on till it was propped against the door, keeping it from opening due to drafts. Finally, I brought the sword till it rested against Henrietta's back, where it could be quick to draw and the large weapon would provide some measure of protection to her.

She sighed as I did so, and I could feel her body relax.

Still, I had one thing left to say. "Your highness," I said, speaking softly and using her title despite her earlier insistence on using her nickname. "In the future, do not rely upon me for this duty as well."

My only response was her nod which I felt against my chest.

And so as the princess slept in my arms, I began my watch, my eyes never leaving the door to our room, my body not forgetting the warmth of the presence beside me.

*Scene Break*

"Is this our destination?" I asked Henrietta as we closed in on the Royal Tanaijiiru Theater. At dawn the sleeping princess had been awoken by a scratching at the window casement. I'm not sure how it had found us, but a messenger owl had located the two of us, and landed on the bed frame near us with a scroll in claw.

Well, until it recognized me anyway. Regardless of the fact that this time I didn't have an ax out, it had taken one look at me, given me a double take, and then dropped the scroll and fled like I was about to come after it.

Honestly, some people could so hold a grudge.

Regardless of my own avian difficulties, with a destination in mind Henrietta had fixed her clothing, blushing lightly as she did so and the two of us had left for wherever it was that this power play was going to end.

"Yes," Henrietta confirmed. All traces of her moment of weakness were gone the moment we had left that small cheap room. Though I was following her a pace behind and to the left, I had little doubt that if I could see her face I would find the daggers in her eyes had returned. "My guard should await us there."

"Will my services be required in the upcoming conflict?" I asked, my voice only mildly curious. Though I wouldn't mind tagging along till the end of it, I had to admit that I was beginning to get antsy. It had been nearly twelve hours since I disappeared without a word to my Master, and I had little doubt Louise was probably tearing her hair out trying to figure out where I had gone.

Whatever Henrietta was about to say was lost as aforementioned pink haired girl made herself known by shrieking, "Princess! Shirou!" and launching herself across the courtyard in front of the theater towards the two of us.

"Louise," Henrietta murmured, and I could hear a smile on her lips. The two girls embraced. I stood behind the two of them patiently, my arms folded as my eyes scanned the courtyard diligently. Approaching from behind where Louise had come from was another figure, one who apparently had been accompanying my little Master why she waited here for some reason.

My eyes raked the approaching person, and it took every ounce of my physical ability not to react in complete abject shock.

Blond hair. Green eyes. A thin frame. The composed stance and walk of a master swordswoman.

I blame the emotional moments from last night, but for a second I thought I was standing before my lost Saber.

Even as my hands clenched unintentionally, my eyes took in the rest of her features. The face was a little too harsh, the hair a little too short, the posture a little too tense.

With an iron act of will that was entirely harder than it should have been, I composed myself. Luckily I don't think anyone noticed.

The blond swordswoman glanced at me, her expression curious. I returned it. Now that I had assured myself that she couldn't be who I had mistaken her for, I was wondering just who it was that had guarded my charge during the night. Apparently she was thinking the same thing as she regarded me frankly.

Despite myself, I gave a small smile. I indicated with my head where I was standing, and then nodded to where she was standing.

She raised an eyebrow towards me, and then gave her own crooked smile.

Without a word, the two of us promptly exchanged our positions so that I was standing beside Louise and the new girl was standing behind Henrietta.

During this process it seemed as though Louise and Henrietta were having a brief emotional exchange. I'd noticed that the two of them tended to do that from time to time, and thus had begun to subconsciously filter out the specifics of each instance.

"In the future, do not hesitate to rely upon me as well, princess," Louise was scolding Henrietta as me and the blond both returned to our proper positions. Despite myself, I raised my eyebrow. The pink haired girl had assumed the "Tohsaka Rin Scolding Position number three": hand on hip, eyebrows narrowed, and finger positioned in an accusing manner inches away from the forehead of the one being scolded. Henrietta seemed a little taken aback by the shorter girl's intimidation tactics. I don't blame her. RIn's scolding positions were to a one very, very, frightening.

"Ah…" Henrietta murmured, not sure how to respond to being dressed down to by a technical social inferior. She slumped down a bit, looking vaguely like a kicked puppy. The blond haired swordswoman behind her raised an eyebrow, apparently not the least bit surprised by Louise's ability to be scary.

"And you," my Master exclaimed, wheeling to unleash her own attack upon me. She seemed to realize that putting a finger in my face would just be awkward due to the height distance, and instead assumed the "Tohsaka Rin Scolding Position number one prime": arms crossed, eyebrow twitching and feet tapping. She pulled it off rather well, and it took me a bit of effort not to glance to the side sheepishly. "What excuse do you have for disappearing with warning?"

Luckily, I had the entire night to prepare a defense. "Princess Henrietta ordered me to do so, and you had given me the previous command to respond with proper deference," I told her easily, shifting all the blame on to both the girls instantly. Louise's eyes narrowed further, and somehow her wand appeared in her still crossed arms, knuckles white as the squeezed. The blond swordswoman took instant note of it, and her eyes began tracking the magical implement carefully, a trace of nerves in her glance. "I've already explained to the princess that in the future she would have to confirm with you before borrowing me," I went on to explain, trying not to grovel for forgiveness to obviously. "The only reason I complied in this instance was because her planning had already included my presence, and I did not wish to further endanger her by disrupting the operation."

Louise's eyes narrowed, but apparently could not find any particularly glaring instances of negligence in my actions. Oh, I knew I'd pay for it later, but it would probably just be a petty prank on me.

During my scolding the plaza we were waiting in was subject to the arrival of a good number of flying nights. I took a moment to study their steeds. So these were manticores? They were large lion like creatures with scaly wings reminiscent of dragons and having long arching tails that resembled scorpions. Strangely enough, rather than keeping their tails arched over their head as the arachnids tended to, the powerful yet strangely graceful creatures seemed to prefer to have them streamlined behind them, trailing them like the way a dragon's tail would. I hazarded a guess that this was mostly due to their avian qualities. It would be pretty hard to fly if the tail was constantly in the path of the wings. The leader moved angrily towards us.

"What is the cause of this, Agnes?" he demanded, his mouth a sneer and his voice dripping with contempt. The blond swordswoman, whom I could now label as Agnes spared him an uninterested glance. "I was told that the princess would be here, and yet I don't see…" His eyes had glanced over the group quickly, studying us generally. I took a measure of pride in the disguise I had helped make when he didn't even look twice at Henrietta. I decided to give him a hand, and when his eyes settled on me they found a finger pointing discreetly to the princess. When the guard followed my finger with confusion, he looked closer and suddenly recognized just who the purple haired girl with a ponytail and a very provocative shirt was. "Your highness!" he said belatedly, kneeling.

As Henrietta began to issue commands, the blond girl, Agnes, sidled up to me. She didn't look like the type that got distracted easily, but it seemed her curiosity had finally gotten the better of her. "Are you the one responsible for that?" she asked me, giving a cautious glance towards my little Master.

I raised an eyebrow, not quite sure what she was talking about. "I might have had a hand in it," I answered cautiously. The look Agnes gave me was equal parts measuring and equal parts caution at that.

"Well, you did a fine job with her," she congratulated me, and then left to take care of her own business.

I gave a curious look at Louise, as Henrietta finally approached us directly again.

"Louise, Shirou," the princess addressed us both. Louise instinctively straightened up at being addressed by the royal figure. I maintained a more casual demeanor. "I thank both of you for your assistance. Louise," she addressed the pink haired girl directly. "Thank you for your hard work. Your reports have been most useful, and have been of great assistance to me." Henrietta didn't give her enough time to respond, turning to address me as well. I got the impression that she was impatient to finish something off. Something that was in the theater if her quick glances in that direction were any indication. "And Shirou. Thank you for guarding me during the night." She offered me a brief smile, before glancing once more at the building that was being circled by the knights on their strange beasts.

"Will you be needing any further assistance then, your highness?" I asked politely. She shook her head, and without another word turned to enter the theater, leaving just Louise and I standing in a plaza filled with armed angry looking men.

As she left, I noticed that once more that Henrietta's eyes were like daggers.

"What was that all about?" Louise asked, her eyes twitching with frustration.

"You don't know?" I asked, sounding curious. "I got the impression that you were in on it due to that blond woman." Louise grimaced.

"All Agnes would say was that it was a rat hunt," she explained, stomping one of her little feet angrily. It looked like she had been up all night, and was still wearing her little camisole outfit from the inn. I got the impression there was a story here I was unaware with.

"I got the princess to explain it," I assured her, causing Louise to blink that I apparently had more information than her. "I wouldn't agree to help without her doing so," I explained. Louise nodded, waiting for me to continue. "It seems the princess faked a kidnapping so that she could try and lure out the dissidents responsible for her previous actual kidnapping."

"Ah," Louise said, nodding as she understood. Then she frowned. "That wasn't so hard at all," she complained. "Why couldn't Agnes of the princess have just said something like that?"

"I got the impression it was a pretty secretive op," I said, rubbing the back of my head slowly. "That was the reason I was pulled in. They needed someone not in the palace to keep an eye on the princess while they were waiting for the operation to come together." Louise nodded slowly, and I could see her coming to the conclusion that if they needed someone skilled and relatively unknown, then yes I would fit the bill. "If you don't mind me asking," I started, glancing sideways at my little Master as the two of us began to walk away. "What was the deal with that Agnes girl? Who was she and what did you do to freak her out so much?"

Louise cleared her throat embarrassedly and glanced to the side. "Well, she was the captain of the Musketeer corps," she explained. "They're the ones personally responsible for the safety of the princess. When I heard that she had disappeared in the night," Louise glanced to the side, looking sheepish, "well, I might have tried to steal her horse and then blow up one of her guns," she admitted.

I chuckled, and rubbed her head affectionately. "That'a girl, Master, that'a girl." She grimaced and tried to brush my hand away. "You know," I continued as she tried to fight off my assault on her hair, "I've come to the conclusion that if you could do a lot worse than service to the princess if that's what you choose to do," I admitted. That caused Louise to stop and stare up at me from beneath her messy locks.

"What do you mean?" she asked. A few days ago I was encouraging her to make her own decisions and think carefully over what she chose to do with her life. Now I was admitting that she could be fine just continuing as she was.

"That girl would make one hell of a Master," I admitted shamelessly. From behind us a sudden roar emerged from the building. It was the sound of dozens of pistols being fired within a heartbeat of each other. Louise jumped and glanced back, not sure of what to make of it.

I continued to lead the girl away. She needed her sleep, if she was going to manage to keep up with her shift tonight. Still, a brief cold smile made my way onto my face. Definitely steel in that one.

*Scene Break*

It was three days later, and when I was getting properly twitch in anticipation, that Louise finally had the opportunity to launch her petty vengeance against me.

"Wash faster, Shirou," Jessica scolded me, eying me carefully as she did so.

"Yes ma'am," I responded dutifully.

"You left us in a bit of a pinch the other day," she told me, continuing her lecture as though I hadn't spoken at all. "If you ever want your chance at the stove again, then you're going to have to re-earn it," she shook her finger at me, looking like she was having far too much fun with herself. I guess the fact that I was a more or less ideal worker meant that she didn't have enough opportunities for her to come down on me as the disciplinarian of the inn. Now that she had a genuine chance to, she was going to milk it for all it was worth.

"Yes ma'am," I droned again. Rather than take offense at it, I had decided to go along with her. I figured the more I pretended that I truly was repentant and the more I groveled for forgiveness, the quicker I could be back to preparing dinners. I already had a menu planned up for the day of my joyful return to the stove in the corner. I eyed it greedily. Oh, that stove and I were going to have so much fun.

"Don't let up on big brother," Louise encouraged Jessica gleefully. She gave me a small smirk, which combined with her all black outfit of the day made her look like an evil little imp sent to torment me. "If he hadn't disappeared I wouldn't have had to be out all night looking for him! Stupid big brother," she joined in with the scolding. Jessica had apparently decided that she could set aside her attempts at divining our true nature for the moment and had accepted the assistance Louise was providing gleefully.

"Yes ma'ams," I dutifully acknowledged.

I was in the process of stacking the last of the dirty dishes, when a voice interrupted the two girls' fun.

"Excuse me," they said, and I glanced over at who had snuck into the backroom. Sometimes I'd have to kick out male patrons who got a little too enthusiastic while Scarron was busy. Instead of a loud red faced drunk, I was instead greeted by two small cloaked figures.

Jessica started, glancing over at the intruders. "Oi!" she said, still using her scolding tone. "You can't be back here," she declared, pointing towards the door they had come through in indication of where they should be going.

Even as I prepared to eject the two, the taller one glanced up for a moment. All three of us saw the face within, but only Louise and I recognized it; Agnes. And if the guard was here, then the other figure must be…

Louise seemed to instantly come to the same conclusion. She gave me a quick glance, and I nodded in return. She could take care of them for the moment and I'd follow shortly. Then Louise glanced at Jessica, and then back at me. This time her expression was less business like and more sadistic. I couldn't quite classify it, but it looked vaguely like the "Tohsaka Rin Scary Smile number six". I suppressed a grimace. Nothing good ever came out of the Scary Smile category.

"Big brother!" she gasped, sounding honestly shocked. "What have I told you about bringing your lovers here while we're working?" she shook her finger at me. Two cloaked figures and one inn manager gasped at that declaration. I sighed instead. At last, the retribution comes. Louise sighed exaggeratedly. "Well, if they're already here then it can't be helped," she declared and flounced over to the two cheerfully. Putting an arm around both Agnes' and Henrietta's waists she smiled winningly at the frozen gawking Jessica and my own resigned self. "I'll just take them up to the room and get them ready for you," she winked at me, and led the stuttering and shell-shocked figures away.

"I'll get her for this," I muttered, tossing the cleaning rag away. "By the sadistic Root and the laughing Throne of Souls, I'll get her for this."

"So it's true!" Jessica gasped, staring at me with wide eyes. "One woman ISN'T enough for you!" She stared at me with wide unbelieving eyes.

My eyebrow twitched at the accusation.

"Wait," she said, not giving me time for any more of a reaction. "But that means…" she stopped, trying to puzzle out what this new clue gave her. It meant that I was definitely involved with other girls, which meant that I could just be an attendant. But then again, Louise had said I was too much for one woman. Maybe I was too much for two women as well? And Louise had said she'd get them ready for me…

Jessica began to grind her teeth and pull her hair. I was beginning to genuinely worry for the girl. If she kept this up her head might explode.

With a sigh I realized that there was no way that I was going to convince her otherwise. I might as well just accept the rumors.

"Screw it," I muttered, fastening the sleeves of the abortive sweater that I was still using to cover my runes and picked up a wrapped Derflinger again. I swore I could hear the sword laughing at me.

"I'm sure you will," Jessica muttered, her face red as she tried to figure out just what to make of me again.

"I walked into that one," I shook my head, and left to catch up with Louise before she managed to contaminate our visitors with further lies.

*Scene Break*

"So that's what you meant!" Agnes was laughing as I prepared the tea. The blond swordswoman had managed to pick up some pretty impressive wounds on whatever task she had been set on after we had separated in front of the theater. Fortunately, Henrietta also know some pretty impressive healing magic. The end result was that the blond was apparently a little sore and slow, but well on the mend.

"Is it entirely appropriate to spread such rumors, Louise?" Henrietta scolded her friend, though it looked like she too found the situation amusing.

"Appropriate? No." Louise admitted, smiling into her cup. "Am I going to stop? Again, no."

"You're right," I told her dryly. "I am a bad influence on you." Louise smiled again, completely unashamed of her assault on my character.

"Surely the legends of your prowess have helped you land a few of the more curious little girls," Agnes cajoled me, red faced with laughter. Louise glanced away and Henrietta glanced down, both of them knowing my stance on partners. Still, I didn't want to spoil the mood. I'd already begun to get a feel for the swordswoman's character. She was blunt, but loyal to a fault. I got the impression that she lived by the axiom 'work hard, play hard'.

"Well, I'm sure it would if it didn't intimidate them so," I admitted, dodging the accusation. I let loose a little sigh of long suffering endurance. "Still, it's a perfectly viable tactic. If they spend all their time speculating on my supposed conquests then they're not wondering whether or not we're intelligence agents in her highness' employ."

"Ah," Agnes acknowledged. She held up a small flask. I nodded and she put a dollop into my cup as I sat down. The two of them had come here in order to indulge in an informal debriefing. Agnes had earlier declared her intention of throwing back a few in celebrations. When I had begun to make tea for everyone she had offered her flask of brandy to spike it with. I had let her put a little in, just enough to give it a bit of a kick but not enough to get on top of the two less experienced drinkers. Agnes and I had simply spiked our cups more generously after I had poured. "I'll admit to that," she said. The woman was positively gregarious. I didn't know if it was just the way she normally was, or if something good had happened recently. "Why, when we were tailing the messenger, I pretended to be a male and had Louise kiss me. They walked right by, never even noticed us," she described the scene with a laugh.

"Oh?" I said slyly, glancing at my Master. She had flushed as red as her hair as Agnes described their ruse. "Sadly, I can't defend my gender too much in this regards," I admitted, letting it slide. I did however carefully store this particular bit of information away. It might be just enough blackmail to keep the rumors about my supposedly legendary orgies from spreading further. "Let me guess," I said, turning back to Agnes. "You've used the low cut chain mail a few times in the past yourself?"

Agnes snorted, completely unashamed. "Yes. You'd be surprised how easy it is to run a man through if they're busy staring at a pair of breasts." The swordswoman unashamedly hefted her pair. They were by no means large, her exercise no doubt helping to keep them that way, but they were certainly noticeable. The two noble girls looked like they were having trouble deciding if they found the conversation embarrassing or amusing.

"Women have all the luck in that regard," I admitted with a sigh. "I doubt I'd have those opportunities if I showed a little chest."

"Oh?" Louise huffed, giving me a small glare. Apparently she didn't find all the talk about using sex appeal to win battles that comforting. It might have something to do with the way she kept glancing from Agnes, to Henrietta, and then to herself, and sighing. "I think that Scarron manages to do well enough."

I grimaced. "Point made, Louise," I told her. Agnes and Henrietta, whom obviously hadn't seen the manager himself while they were infiltrating the inn, glanced between the two of us curiously.

"Never the less," Henrietta spoke up, taking charge of the conversation. She looked a little flush, the strong brandy in the tea beginning to work on her. Louise appeared to be in the same condition, though she could just be embarrassed still from Agnes confession earlier. Agnes and myself had drank a bit more than either of the two noble girls, but I guess either superior experience or superior constitution had rendered us more immune to the effects. "I'd like to thank you, Louise for all your hard work in gathering rumors for me." The princess leaned over and clutched the noble girls hand with one of her own, smiling. Louise flushed in embarrassment.

"Not at all, your highness," she assured the princess eagerly. "I'm just sorry that so many of them are so unpleasant."

"Unpleasant?" Agnes asked, her own duty as a guardian coming into play, as she leaned forward slightly, still sipping her brandy and tea. "What kind of rumors have been spreading?" she asked, glancing at me for information, apparently not-privy to the specifics of Louise's reports. I shrugged. I spent most of my time in the back behind the scenes. I rarely had the opportunity to hear as much from the customers as Louise did.

"That I am a silly girl, and that the planned invasion of Albion is nothing more than my desire for revenge dragging the rest of the country to war," Henrietta sighed. She took another sip of her tea, and looked to wobble a bit. It seemed she was a bit of a lightweight. "I can hardly blame them," she admitted, probably being more honest with us then she would if she wasn't tipsy. "In the end, it is my desire for revenge for Wales that is driving me to do so."

While both Agnes and Louise both looked too shocked to properly collect themselves to assure the princess that no, her desires were no such thing, I shrugged and spoke up. "So? It's as good a reason as any," I point out. The table gawked at my bluntness.

"My desire for vengeance is reason enough to take my country to a war that might result in thousands of deaths?" Henrietta finally voiced, not seeing my reasoning at all.

"No," I contradicted her. "Your desire for vengeance is enough for you to start the war. I've seen enough wars to know that there have been far less ideal reasons for it. But I'd wager four out of five people who join your army will have their own reasons to fight. You'll be going for vengeance. They'll be going for gold, or glory, or patriotism." I gave another small shrug, pouring myself a small tea. "If I were to hazard a wager, I'd say that Louise goes for friendship, and I go for duty," I pointed out. Henrietta glanced quickly over at the pink haired girl, and Louise flushed, looking down shyly and nodding. Agnes gave me her own glance, an approving smile on her face. I wasn't sure if it was because I had managed to assure the princess that those who would serve her would do so for their own reasons, of if my own reason for fighting was similar enough to hers to warrant her agreement.

Surprisingly enough, it was Louise who spoke up next. "You know, Shirou," she said, her own face flushed red with intoxication. She eyed me curiously. "You've told me before that there are three things you'll fight for. I know what two of them are," she didn't elaborate, and I nodded. "But I still don't know what the third is." She was leading me on rather heavily. Apparently my Master wasn't too good at handling her drink.

I grimaced lightly. "Shouldn't we be talking about the rat hunt?" I tried to change the subject, using the term Agnes had in describing the events of three days ago.

"I too am curious, Shirou," Henrietta instead said, glancing at me with wide eyes and flushed cheeks. Briefly I was reminded of the last time I had seen her in that state, and promptly shoved those thoughts away. I guess she was curious to know more about the man she had spent the night with.

"Come on!" Agnes cajoled me easily. "We've already talked about my breasts. Your will to fight hardly sounds so personal after that," she pointed out, leaning back in her seat as she took another drink from her cup. She winced slightly as one of her wounds apparently aggravated her, but the edge had been taken off through magic and liquor, so she paid it no more mind.

With a sigh, I capitulated. "Saving," I explained, shortly. Three heads tilted to the side, and I could almost make out the little question marks that appeared above their heads.

"Saving?" Louise asked. "Like money?"

"Do you mean protecting maybe?" Henrietta tried her own interpretation.

"No. You mean like rescuing prisoners or something, right?" Agnes tried. "So you were a revolutionary back home?"

"Nope, none of those three," I shook my head. "Look, it's a bit hard to explain, alright? Why don't we let Derflinger tell a few dirty jokes, and get this party back in a celebratory mood," I offered.

The sword, which had been propped up as was the custom at the table and had his own brandy laced tea in front of him chimed in. "Thanks partner! I have a couple of good ones!" It sank down in its sheath, apparently collecting itself. "Hey! Have you heard this one? There was a maid, a butler, and these twin noble girls, right…"

Agnes cut him off. "So he said, 'That wasn't my mop,'" she recited instantly.

"Ah," Derflinger sighed, sounding disappointed. "I guess you have heard that one," he muttered. Apparently the swordswoman's interjection had been the punch line.

Louise seemed determined to keep on conversation though. "What would it take to get you to explain yourself?" she asked, apparently willing to acknowledge my reticent, and equally willing to offer something in negotiation.

With a sigh, I rubbed my head. "You never again brining up the damn threesome rumor you keep spreading, and do everything you can to suppress it while we're working here." I cocked my head in further thought. "And more of Agnes brandy. If I'm going to talk about it, then I really would prefer being less sober than I am now."

"Deal!" Louise jumped on it. Dutifully, Agnes handed over her flask. Rather than pouring more in my cup, I instead brought it directly to my lips. It was a large flask, and when I got my hands on it it still had more than half left. When I gave it back, I had reduced that to a quarter.

"Well?" Louise said as I sat for a moment, my eyes unfocused. Henrietta and Agnes had leaned in, expecting a good story.

"Give me a second to figure out where to start," I told her with a grimace. Finally I figured that there was no way I was getting out of this, especially after having excepted Agnes bribe, and decided to just plunge in. "I've told you that I was an orphan, right?" I began. Louise nodded, though it was no surprise that Henrietta and Agnes hadn't known. The princess brought a hand to her mouth, her eyes widening in compassion, though Agnes just cocked her head and waited for more. "I never told you how I was orphaned, right?"

"No," Louise admitted, sitting back with her cup of tea, watching me closely.

"Well," I grimaced, deciding how much to leave in and how much to keep out. "There was a massive fire," I finally settled on. "There had been two mages, both with Servants of their own, that had been fighting it out. They'd been after each other for a while, but when they finally got down to their final confrontation, it happened to be in my home town." That was suitably vague enough, but still making it to the point enough for them to understand. "The end result was a whole lot of flames and explosions. When it was all over, I was the only survivor of the residents who got caught up in it." At ground zero anyway. Fuyuki City while only being a moderate sized town in my home world would have been considered massive in this world. So far the only city I'd seen here to match it was the capital of Tristain. The block I lived on was about the size of a normal sized village in these parts, and had probably three times as many people considering the Japanese tendency to build up and stack households on top of each other. Telling them my town was destroyed would probably give them enough to work within their heads.

"Che," Agnes grimaced while making a disgusted sound. "Flame mages," she said, and the words sounded like an oath in her mouth. Across from her, Henrietta winced slightly. I got the impression that there was some history here that I was unaware of, but didn't particularly care.

"To be fair," I pointed out, a grimace of my own. "Most of it was done by the Servants themselves. We do tend to be a little destructive on our own, though some more than others," it was my turn to wince a bit. "And when Servants battle, it definitely can get very messy." It all depended on the noble phantasms, and whether or not they were anti-personal, anti-army, or anti-castle. Agnes snorted at that.

"As though swordsmen like us could ever deal the sheer destruction that a flame mage could," she argued. Definitely some history here. Besides Agnes, Louise winced. She knew full well that I had destroyed a hill by accident with one attack, and that even if she hadn't sank the invading fleet, there was a good chance I could have done it if I needed to. I didn't bother to argue.

"Whatever the case was, I was in bad shape there. The fire had already claimed most of the town around me, and I was on my last leg," my voice was soft, reminiscent, but strangely devoid of bitterness. "While I was like that, one of the mages, the one who had won found me. He had seen the devastation that he had helped make and the moment he had defeated the other mage he had began to desperately search for any survivors that he could rescue. I was the only one he came across, and even then it was a near thing."

I rested my head on one hand, and took a sip of tea. I wasn't looking at the table any more. Instead, I was looking at a memory: one of my first clear ones. I described it to the table. "It was the expression on his face as he found me. He had been desperately searching for anyone, anything he could rescue in order to atone for his hand in it. When he found me, on the verge of death, the sheer joy in his expression, the absolute happiness in being able to save even one person, well, it stuck with me. I was delirious at the time, badly wounded, confused by what was happening, but I remember being able to think, 'I wish I could look that happy'." I shrugged, coming back to the present. The three girls were watching me carefully, their expressions varied.

Louise was watching me carefully, her cheeks still flushed with the alcohol she had drunk. Henrietta had her eyes fixed on the cup in her hand, her thoughts her own. It was Agnes, who was watching me as carefully as Louise who spoke up.

"Then what happened?" the swordswoman asked. Her own expression looked bitter, but she held a strange half smile of her own as she watched me.

I sighed, and threw back the rest of my tea and brandy, then held the cup out to the blond. She refilled me, and this time I drank the booze straight. "He adopted me, abandoning his own family to do so. He raised me as best he could, refusing to teach me magic until I begged him enough. I think the only thing he wanted of me was that I never end up doing the same as him. But I was still pretty young, so instead of just living a peaceful life like he wanted, I decided to try and be able to save someone just like he had me. A few years later he succumbed to the wounds the other mage managed to give him before he had escaped and died." I took a sip. "I still bear his name: Kiritsugu Emiya."

Agnes grimaced. "So you forgave him? The one who was responsible for the death of your parents and the burning of your home?" she pressed me, leaning forward as she did so.

I shrugged. "Forgave him? I suppose. It was never his intention for things to turn out like they did. He did his best to atone for it, and in the end died because of it. By the end of it there just wasn't any point in holding a grudge against him, I suppose."

There was definitely something here that was rubbing Agnes the wrong way. She sneered at my explanation for my forgiveness. "And the other one, the one who was defeated and got away. Did you forgive him too?" she snorted, glaring at me in contempt.

I smiled again. This one was a great deal less kind that the expression I wore when talking about my father. "No. I tracked him down a few years later and put eight inches of steel into his heart." I took a sip of brandy. "Then I activated the latent magic stored in the blade and caused it to release in an explosion which blew most of his torso into small gory chunks the consistency of morning fog." My smile widened. "His last wordss were shock when he realized he had been killed by a blade he had given to the one who gave it to me in the first place."

"Ah," Henrietta said uncertainly, looking at me askance. "You sound rather," she paused to search for a word, "satisfied with the experience." Agnes looked like she agreed, and her expression had gone from disgust to a kind of happy nostalgia.

"Yes," I admitted shamelessly. "It was quite possibly the most satisfying kill I've ever made. Even to this day, I still get a warm happy feeling thinking back on it."

"I'll drink to that!" Agnes declared happily, pouring a shot of brandy into her own empty cup and raising it to me. I clinked the porcelain against hers and we both threw back our drinks in celebration.

"Now then!" Agnes said, completely missing the contemplative mood that Louise and Henrietta had slipped into at my story. She turned to Derflinger, switching her empty cup with his cooler full one. "You said something about dirty jokes, right?" she asked eagerly, addressing the sword easily.

It only took two of the raunchiest stories I'd ever heard before Henrietta had moved past my tragic revelation of my past and was now blushing to the roots of her hairs while giggling helplessly. Three more after that was enough to drag even Louise from her contemplation, leaving her a sputtering indignant mess as she tried desperately to stop the sword from further corrupting her princess. Agnes laughed uproariously, and I was left wondering just how we were going to get everyone home and in one piece.

*Scene Break*

_ It took Louise almost no time at all to fall asleep that night. When she did so, it was in a room empty except for herself. After the amount of alcohol that the four of them, five plus sword, had managed to consume, Shirou had been forced to volunteer himself to walk the other two visitors back to the palace. And despite the fact that she really had hoped to stay awake longer than that in order to think about the revelations her Servant had made, unfortunately for her resolve she just didn't have it in her to resist the drowsiness the liquor had instilled in her._

_ Strangely enough, that night Louise didn't dream of swords and battle for the first time in what felt like ages to her. Perhaps it was the liquor that did it, or perhaps, and more likely, it was Shirou's haunting story of his past that did it, but that night, Louise dreamed of fire and ash._

_ Words didn't do it justice. Louise had thought she had understood what it must have been like while listening to her Servant's quiet explanation, thought she had comprehended his reluctance to speak of it. She had been wrong. Nothing could have prepared her for this. This was what hell looked like._

_ Saying there was a fire didn't properly describe the sheer overwhelming heat, the oppressive roasting hotness that weighed down every inch of the landscape. It didn't describe the fierce bright light that scorched the eyes, nor the oppressive smoke that hovered on the ground, that rose billowing into the air, the way it choked the lungs until every breath was an aching burden to take._

_ To say that he had been the only survivor didn't accurately describe the sheer horror of those who had fallen. She saw bodies, some still living through some kind of nightmarish miracle, who flailed weakly, their flesh having been melted down into unrecognizable shapes. Charred limbs, some of them still twitching, naught left of them but bone and ash, laying freely on the ground, or poking like macabre monuments out of rubbish and wreckage. _

_ And to say that he had been near death didn't describe him either. Louise watched in her dreams as she saw the small boy that would grow into her strong Servant as he walked aimlessly through the nightmare landscape. His own flesh was scorched, blistering in the heat despite the wide birth he gave the still roaring fires when he could. His clothes were charred, sticking to his own wounds grotesquely. His eyes were vacant, lacking even the strength to blink the smoke from his eyes, and the water to tear up and try to protect them. As he walked, the screams of the dying echoed to him, calling for him to help them, or calling for him to join them, or just calling for him to acknowledge them. Limbs reached for him, some just appearing to stretch for him due to the wavering of the heat as they owners of the limbs were long dead. Others still had life in them, trapped in wreckage as they roasted, the parts of them that were free desperately trying to entice the boy to pull them free, or perhaps just come close enough so that they could pull him in._

_ As Louise looked on, bile rising in her throat, she realized that this, not the day he had been birthed from his forgotten mother's womb, was the day her servant had been born. He had already admitted to having no memories before this. This was the first thing he could recall, the moment that he had came into existence, springing fully grown like some kind of nightmare faerie from the inferno of brimstone around him. _

_ Her servant had always had inhuman qualities to him. It was something she had noticed before in the past. She had wondered before on his absolute ability to think of himself as nothing but a weapon. If he was a weapon, then this was where he was forged, the furnace of a blacksmith that had shaped him long before he had ever picked up his first blade himself. _

_ Similarly, his willingness to die, his eagerness to find the hill of swords suddenly didn't seem so strange anymore. Compared to this, then the quiet of a hill laced with blades didn't seem so sad any more. It seemed almost peaceful. And if that hill were to take him back to his girl in blue, then it was indeed something worth searching for. _

_ When Shirou returned, the soft noise he made managed to stir Louise enough for her to awaken from her nightmare. He made no noise when she chose to sleep by him again, seeking the protection she instinctively attributed to him._


	13. Promised Blades: The Thirteenth night

The Hill of Swords: The Thirteenth night

Author's notes: Man, another super chapter. Well, I had a lot of source material for this section, and didn't want to have to split it up just like with chapter ten. I did think about putting a break after they finished arriving at the mansion, but decided instead to press on.

Let's see, points of interest.

First, the weapons used in this chapter. Kanshou and Bakuya get proper screen time here, and I hope I did the scene justice. My description of their breaking was my own personal interpretation based on their behavior in the anime during the Berserker battle. Let me know if you like it. What else? Ah! The Sai of Raphael. Though in the work I attributed it to the Renaissance painter, in actuality I was thinking of a certain red wearing teenage mutant ninja turtle. Turtles on a half shell! The final one of note here were the 'Elf Arrows'. In the medieval times when people suffered conditions that had no outward sign but resulted in sudden death the deaths were attributed to invisible elf arrows. Those who survived strokes, with the accompanying paralysis also were said to have been shot down by the same.

Character wise, a few brief points. Siesta, well, she needed some proper screentime, and I had fun writing her scenes here. "For Louise's sister!" is a line I think I might end up using a few more times in the future. As for Eleanor, I kind of felt bad about the treatment she got here. She really isn't a bad character, it's just well, Shirou just doesn't like her. I did have fun with making her some kind of super tsundere character though. A tsundere, for those who are unaware is the phrase for someone who seems really snobbish, but ends up being a total softy in private. Though the route Eleanor ended up taking was a bit extreme here...

The other two to note here was of course Shirou and Karin. Louise's mother only gets a bit of screen time later on in the series, at least according to the translations I've found so far. Consequentially, I got to have a bit of personal fun with her. I hope I managed to make her interesting enough for those of you who haven't heard of her yet. As for Shirou, he got a good bit of development in here as well. I hope I managed to paint a suitable picture for those of his own personal inferiority complex.

At the moment, there's only one more chapter planned for the second arc. After words, well, classes have started up again. Can't tell for certain yet, but there might be a bit of reduction in my output speed. I definitily want to get to the finishing point for this one arc though before letting myself slow down, so I hope all of you out there can handle that.

As for the dream sequence, well, its not much of one this time. I've said pretty much everything I've needed to say with it at this point, and so it got greatly abbreviated. I suppose I could always go back later when I do some touch ups and add to it, but this chapter was long enough that I felt I didn't particularly have to worry about throwing in a few more pages of fluff.

That being said, I'm going to be late for class if I keep writing, so story go!

*Story Start*

"Traveling sure is exciting, isn't it?" Siesta asked me cheerfully. She beamed at me, her smile so wide that she had to close her eyes in order to be able to generate it. I think the source of her overwhelming joy was the fact that the two of us were alone in the carriage, and probably would remain that way for a good long while. The vehicle was being steered by an alviss, a type of mechanically constructed golem. Though it was moved by magic, rather than being a single element like most golems are its body was actually constructed of various clockwork parts. The happy maid was using the complete lack of witnesses to take the opportunity to try and fit as much of my elbow between her breasts as she could, latching onto my arm with the tenacity of a leech.

"Yes, Siesta," I assured her dutifully, only paying half my attention to her and spending the rest on the carriage in front of us.

Within the much more elaborate and larger carriage then the modest one Siesta and I were riding in there were currently two people. One of them was my Master. The other was my Master's eldest sister, Eleanor. I had heard of her only in passing a few times, and so far I've been completely unprepared for what the actual experience had been like.

"So just what was it that Louise and you were doing all summer, Shirou?" the oblivious maid asked, either not noticing or not caring that I was only half listening to her. She seemed perfectly happy to merely sit next to me as closely as she could. When we had first begun this little sojourn, she had originally been directly in front of me. However as the journey went she had slowly began migrating closer and closer, first somehow managing to transfer seats till she was on the same side of the carriage as me, then managing to close the space between us until we were right next to each other, and now she had managed to physically latch onto me. The weirdest part was that she managed to time each event in such a way that I hadn't noticed each individual move. It was the reason that I was now making sure to keep part of my attention on her at all times. I wasn't sure what the next planned stage was, but I was worried that before the trip ended she'd be straddling me completely.

"Running errands," I told her. In the end, Louise and I had spent the entire summer vacation working at the Charming Faerie Inn. All said and done, it had been a very profitable season. Not only had Louise managed to gather a wide variety of rumors for Henrietta, but towards the end of it her information gathering technique had advanced to the point where she was seamlessly blending in with the commoners. Louise had even managed to identify several specific Albion infiltrators by correlating rumors and spying on customers. She had sent their names and identities onwards with requests for what her responses to them should be.

Most of them had been let free and observed. A few of them hadn't, and I had been called on to see to their disposal. Discrete assassination wasn't my usual mode of operation, but it hadn't been the first time I'd had to take care of someone quietly.

Besides the development of Louise's skill set, we'd also managed to scrape together a fairly descent war chest together by combining her tips and my salary. And best of all, by the end of it I was cooking full time in the back!

Sadly, it didn't last forever. When there was only a week left of the summer break, orders came down from Henrietta via a bird that still wouldn't stay in the same room as me longer than five minutes. The campaign against Albion was to begin within a month, and we were to abandon our intelligence operations and began preparations for joining the war effort. Louise was to play the part of the strategic asset, using her void magic to accomplish specific goals that would be hard to manage with conventional magic or tactics. I, naturally, was to accompany her. I was happy to note that the princess didn't actually give me a direct order. She had instead requested that I accompany Louise and guard her in my capacity as a Servant. The roundabout way that she had phrased it indicated that she understood precisely where my loyalties were and wasn't under any illusions about her ability to command me directly. I had found the whole thing charmingly polite.

Unfortunately, this led to our current predicament. When we arrived back at the academy Louise had sent a messenger bird of her own to let her family know of her impending service in the military. Her family had sent back a bird saying that she wasn't allowed to serve in the military. So she had sent back another saying oh yes she would. It seems that didn't sit well with them, because in return they unleashed the blond haired harpy that I was currently glaring at.

Eleanor was a taller long haired blonde woman, though not quite as tall as myself. She wore an angular set of glasses and austere and simple though well tailored white blouse and purple skirt with calf length boots. She was apparently a well respected researcher at a nearby magic research facility of some kind, was regarded as a genius, and was every inch an example of classic noble behavior. In other words she was a short tempered, overly confident, overbearing, and completely devoid of anything resembling compassion, respect, or even acknowledgment of anything or anyone who wasn't of at least equal status or intelligence.

She had barged into Louise's room whilst we were in the middle of tea, grabbed my little Master by her cheeks, told her they were going home, and then dragged her out without even looking at me once. She had no idea how close I came to killing her right then. It was only that Louise had managed to get out her sister's name before she was attacked that kept me from striking the blond down where she stood.

I had followed afterwards, and been able to witness just in time when Eleanor had pointed at Siesta, whom had just arrived back at the academy to begin her duty, told the maid that she would be her female attendant while traveling, and then threw the startled country girl into a carriage while dragging Louise into another carriage, and promptly setting off. She hadn't once given any indication that she even noticed my presence.

Naturally, I had grabbed a seat myself so that I could follow.

Which led to my current predicament. As I observed through the window on the front end of my carriage, which let me look into the window at the back end of their carriage, I watched as Louise tried to say something. It looked like she got one word out before Eleanor apparently decided to disregard attempts at intelligent conversation and simply grabbed both of Louise's cheeks and started squeezing. My Master began to wave her arms around frantically, trying to shake the facial assault off.

I twitched.

"Errands?" Siesta brought my attention back to the carriage. I realized with a start that in the moment my attention had been completely focused on the two siblings ahead of me Siesta had somehow managed to turn her entire body sideways and wrap one of her legs around mine. I hadn't even noticed her move. The maid smiled winningly up at me, still in her casual clothing. This time, instead of her pale blouse and dark skirt combination she was wearing a dark green one piece dress which buttoned modestly up to her neck and a wide brimmed straw hat. It looked both comfortable and durable, the exact combination I've come to expect out of the hardy country girl.

"A few minor things for a few important people," I explained to her half heartedly. My attention was drawn back to the drama in front of me. Eleanor had released Louise's face and the two of them were sitting once more. Louise was rubbing her cheeks ruefully, and Eleanor had her arms crossed and her back straight as a post as she assumed a haughty pose. I saw Louise murmur something, her face red from the abuse and her head downturned. Eleanor seemed to take offense to this too, and began to grind her knuckle into the top of the pinkette's head. Louise's arms began to flail about helplessly as she began to wail something out.

I gritted my teeth.

"Minor things? But didn't Louise call off a trip to her family in order to attend to them?" Siesta asked innocently. I glanced down and realized that she was now three quarters of the way on top of me, and that her dress was now not quite so modestly buttoned. She fluttered her eyelashes at me, as though to say, 'No, she had no idea how she had ended up in this position, but my, wasn't it hot in here?'

"Considering how this trip is turning out," I remarked dryly, "can you blame her?"

Siesta opened her mouth to reply, then glanced towards the front. She winced, and then sighed. "No, I don't suppose I do," she remarked mournfully, pity for her friend overwhelming her amorous cover campaign against me.

I followed her gaze. Now Louise had red cheeks, and messed up hair. Eleanor was once more in her superior position; glancing off to the side with her chin so high up in the air I'm surprised she hadn't broken her own neck already. Louise was curled up into a ball as though to defend herself. She looked to the side, and apparently said something again. This time Eleanor reached out and grabbed her nose, tugging it up into the air. Once more Louise began to wave her arms desperately, trying to get the domineering blond off of her.

"Okay," I said resolutely setting the disappointed maid who was now fully on top of me aside deliberately. "That's it." I glanced around the small space, and then moved to open both of the windows on either side of the carriage. Siesta glanced at me in alarm.

"Shirou," she said nervously. "What are you doing?" I opened the window in the front of the carriage and nodded. That'll do it.

Trace on.

It was a bit crowded in here, so I wasn't able to trace a bow big enough to use one of my swords on. Still, this was a strategic operation so smaller was probably better here. I traced a normal arrow, though I made sure it was a serrated one with a great number of barbed hooks on it.

"Hold still a second," I told Siesta. "I'm going to kill Eleanor. This should only take a moment." Knocking the arrow, I turned the bow sideways so that either end poked out of the windows on each side, giving me the room to draw. The positioning was a little uncomfortable, and the stance went against all my classical training in the discipline, but it was more than enough for me to be absolutely confident that I could make the shot.

"No!" Siesta shouted, looking vaguely alarmed at my actions. "You can't kill Louise's sister!"

"Why not?" I asked, honestly confused. It seemed like a reasonable course of action to me.

"Because it's illegal for a commoner to raise arms against a noble!" she said emphatically, nodding her head vigorously.

I considered that for a second. "Technically," I pointed out, "I qualify as a familiar, so I could probably talk my way out of it by saying I was defending my Master." I cocked my head to the side, and then added, "Plus, princess Henrietta owes me a few favors. I'm sure she can get me a pardon." Nodding my head at my justification, I resumed knocking my arrow and prepared to draw.

"It would make Louise sad!" Siesta countered, now looking a great deal more alarmed than earlier. I hesitated and then sighed. She was probably right. Louise would probably forgive me in the end, but in the mean time I had no doubt that those Root be damned threesome rumors would start popping up again. I could do without the reputation as a sexual deviant. I dissolved the magic in the arrow I had prepared and it disappeared, causing Siesta to sigh in relief.

I happened to glance up at the carriage in front of me as I prepared to do the same to the bow just in time to see Eleanor reach out and grab both of Louise's ears and begin twisting.

Narrowing my eyes, I trace a second arrow. This one was much slimmer, lacking a proper arrowhead and having nothing but a sharpened point of wood. The fletching was much more elaborate than the previous arrow, and the whole thing was the bright green of freshly cut wood.

Siesta eyed the new projectile with alarm. "But you can't kill her! Think of Louise!" Siesta cried, waving her arms frantically to get me to stop.

"Relax," I told her, knocking the new arrow. We were in a rough part of the road, so I waited patiently till the carriage stopped shaking. "This is an elf arrow. It'll only hurt for a second, and then it'll just leave her partially paralyzed."

Strangely enough, this seemed to scare Siesta even more. "Elf arrow?" she whispered, looking horrified at the arrow in my hand, before latching onto the second half of my proclamation. "Partially paralyzed? For how long?" she said, apparently seeing that I wouldn't compromise with my plan to shoot someone, and trying to see just how bad the assault would be.

"Permanently," I assured her. This did not seem to bring her the relief I intended.

"But what would Louise think if you partially paralyzed her sister?" Siesta tried again, her eyes wide and she shot me the cutest look she could in an effort to convince me to back down. I glanced back to the carriage ahead of me. The elder blond had stood up in the carriage herself and now had her foot on top of Louise's head, which was looking red all over by now.

"Good point." I trace a second arrow. "This should finish the job," I nodded happily. We were almost off the rough spot, and with my Master down and the target standing this was probably the best shot I was going to get.

Siesta stood, looking resolute. "This is for Louise's sister!" she declared, lifting one clenched fist up as she shook it at me in an adorably threatening manner.

Then she jumped me.

It was such an unexpected maneuver that it caught me completely by surprise, and the maid managed to knock me off balance enough to send both of us tumbling to the floor. Once there, she straddled me, locked her legs around my hips, wrapped both arms around my head, and stuck my face into her breasts.

I managed to struggle free long enough to breathe. I glanced up at her and dryly told her, "You're not fooling anyone, you know?"

"For Louise's sister!" she declared, smiling happily despite proclaiming her onerous actions for the sake of another, and then dragged me back down to my perfumed dour.

*Scene Break*

It was several days later that we finally reached the Valliere territory. I assumed that meant we were almost there. It turns out I was mistaken. I had known that Louise's family was powerful and rich, mostly through my conversations with some of the other students, but it turns out that when they said powerful and rich they meant POWERFUL and RICH. The Valliere family was one of the five greatest noble families in Tristain, and ranked among the top twenty in all off the surrounding countries as well. Thus it looked like even though we had finally made it to my Master's technical home, we still had about a day's worth more travel till we made it to her mansion.

It seems that unlike a certain other small mage, namely Rin, Louise was loaded. I just know that would have pissed off Tohsaka more than anything.

Halfway through the last days travel, it was apparently decided that we'd stop at one of the local townships for a brief rest and a meal. The moment we pulled up, Siesta hopped out of the carriage, humming happily and moved to attend to Louise's needs.

I was most likely the reason for the maid's good mood. I still stood firmly by my decision that the world would be a brighter and more beautiful place without my Master's annoying sister. This had apparently caused Siesta to have a revelation of personal purpose: protecting Eleanor through liberal use of her breasts. It had been a hard few days. I had desperately watched, searching for a moment's inattention in which to slip through and complete my appointed task, and she had watched eagerly, waiting for the moment when I would attempt it and she would be able to strike in the name of Louise's sister.

The source of Siesta's joy was that I had been very persistent. The source of my frustration was that so had she.

Still, with this many witnesses I would most likely have to shelve my murderous urges for the moment. Instead, I glanced around, preparing to make a judgment on the Valliere family as a whole depending on what I found.

In the end, the judgment was good. The commoners of this region were all to a one well fed and happy. Their clothing was clean, their attitudes optimistic, and they looked like they lived in a higher standard of living then some of the other poor wretches I'd seen since I arrived at this land. Considering my impression of Eleanor so far, and if I looked back far enough my first impression of Louise, I had been a bit worried about finding out that the Valliere family would be terribly oppressive. Instead I found them simply to be nobles of the most classic vein.

It was easy enough for me to look at the caste system and feel a great deal of disgust for it. I was raised in a society of much higher education and living standard. With modern technology it was possible for everyone, well mostly everyone, to have all the most basic of necessities in order to survive and an education diverse enough for a hardworking person to achieve success regardless of their circumstances. Out here it was different. They didn't have roads, or cars, or trains, or any of the modern conveniences I was used to. Nor did they have printing presses, or schools, or colleges to ensure that everyone could read and receive an education. Out here, the children learned the crafts of their parents. A farmer taught their offspring how to farm, a blacksmith how to work metal. If you look at it that way, than nobles, even if it was only through luck or old money, were leaders and thus taught their children how to lead. The nobles had to protect their territory, driving away thieves and handling disputes within. It almost could be considered that their craft was leadership, and it was a craft as important as metal working or growing food. Unfortunately, if someone was bad at farming or blacksmithing they just wouldn't be able to sell anything and thus would have to improve or starve. If someone was bad at leading, there really wasn't a mechanism in place to ensure that they had to improve.

Luckily, it seemed that the Valliere family despite their highhanded methods appeared very good at leading and regulating.

As I was led inside I was greeted politely from all sides by the residences of the village, many of which thought I was either a noble myself or simply a bodyguard or personal servant. Several offered to carry my sword for me, offers which I declined. Others offered condolences for the long journey and expressed regret that they weren't able to welcome us with greater aplomb. I thanked some of them for the sentiment, and assured the others that this would be acceptable.

It was a little taxing for me, trying to keep up with the courtesy around me, but it was enough to remind me that amongst Louise's family informality would probably be frowned upon. Thus bolstered with this revelation, when my Master' led me into the small tavern where we would be dining I made sure to assume a properly differential post, standing directly behind her. Once I settled myself I folded my arms and prepared to wait.

The poor pink haired girl looked grateful for my presence. I didn't blame her. From what I could see she had been poked, prodded, and demeaned the entire trip out here. I knew intellectually that Louise had a lot of past history as a failure to overcome but I was beginning to see just what that meant at a personal level for her. The Valliere family was so rich it took a full day to travel from the edge of their territory to the center. They were a family that commanded immense respect from both those who knew them and those who served under them. For a girl who had no talent in magic it must have been frustrating. For the family of a girl who had no talent in magic it must have been frustrating. They must have pushed her with all their might, desperately trying to force her to achieve even the most minimum of ability. And Louise would have taken it. Not out of any twisted sense of sadism or masochism respectively. Both sides would have strived so hard because they felt it their responsibility as nobles to BE noble.

I gave my Master a brief smile, and then set my face in stone and assumed a patient stance behind her, a living sentinel as she dined. She gave me a brief smile back, and used my statue impression as a support to flag her own waning self confidence. I was a living reminder that she wasn't a failure, not anymore. She had accomplished magic feats not seen in millennia, and been a personal witness and participant in dire combat.

My Master had steel in her, and she knew it now.

There was no conversation between the sisters as food was brought out to them. The people around us were much less reserved. It seemed as though many of them knew Louise from much further back than I did, and many comments were tossed around about how much she had grown. I idly eyed my diminutive Master. This was her grown? She was still positively tiny in my book. I hoped that late growth spurts were the norm for her family, because otherwise Louise was destined to never reach my shoulders.

Still, it was one rumor in particular that caught my attention. It seemed that Eleanor had been recently engaged. I also noticed that the one who mentioned it was summarily shushed harshly by everyone around them.

Louise, who had gradually been recovering her spirit since she had managed to find a place where Eleanor was apparently reluctant to launch violent attacks on her, also heard. After having spent the last few weeks working in a bar and having all her focus on picking up and interpreting rumors, I don't think she had any trouble making assumptions about what both the rumor and the prompt killing of that rumor meant.

My pink haired Master glanced back at me, and our eyes met for a brief second. For a brief second, she tilted her head, and I lowered mine. It was so inconspicuous that no one there noticed.

It was different for the two of us. We were Master and Servant. For nearly six months we had been living together, working together, and fighting together. By this point, the two of us knew the other's reactions, the other's tendencies, the other's responses. Though it wasn't flawless yet, the connection was more than enough for me to see what my Master was planning, and her to know that her Servant was ready.

"Big sister Eleanor," Louise said, her head cocked innocently to the side. After days of being caged alone with the pinch happy blond, Louise was more than ready to get a little payback. "Is it true that you're engaged?"

The entire room dropped to dead silence.

Siesta whimpered. She was the only one here who didn't have a clue just what kind of reaction those words would garner. Considering just how quickly the one who mentioned the engagement had been shut up, combined with what I'd witnessed from Eleanor herself, I had a fair idea just what had happened to that particular arrangement. So did all the commoners who were gathered around. The blondes face had turned bright red and she had began to shake in her seat, releasing a murderous rage so vast that even those not sensitive to it could feel it. Siesta was the only one who had no inkling of just what that comment had set off.

"Louise, you runt…" Eleanor began, her voice trembling with pent up rage. Considering the likely hood of this ultra-dominatrix blonde ever getting laid, I hazard a guess that there was more than just rage that was pent up in her. Louise's elder sister rocketed to her feet, her eyes blazing and her fist clenched and shaking. It looked like the clenched shaking fist might be a genetic trait, considering just how many times I'd seen Louise do the exact same thing. "It was canceled! Canceled! I don't know why! Why don't you ask the Earl Burgandi? He said something about 'not being able to take it anymore'!"

Louise's elder sister's hands rocketed foreword. I knew this attack. I had witnessed it several times on the way up here. This was the 'cheek stretch strike'. A ruthless assault that left the victim's face half numbed for, according to my observations, at least a quarter of an hour afterwards.

Ka-ching!

The entire room froze and stared in disbelief. None were as disbelieving as Eleanor. Louise, who had flinched backwards instinctively dared to crack open her eyelids as she realized that her face wasn't currently being stretched like taffy.

Both my hands had shot forth, intercepting the assault a mere inches away from their intended targets. Eleanor stared up at me, shocked that her so far apparently unblocked attack had been halted.

"Due to our traveling arrangements thus far," I spoke calmly, my voice very bland as I did so. "I have been unable to properly defend my Master to this point. However, I would have you refrain from such actions further in my presence." There. That was suitably non-confrontational enough to be both appropriately deferential but equally clear. I released the blonde's wrists and folded both my arms again, tilting my head downward in a suitably submissive manner.

Louise sagged in relief. The nightmare was finally over for her. Recovering her composure, she began to eat, using her knife and fork to cut dainty slices away at the sliced beef and steamed greens on her plate and eating them in an elegant and refined manner.

The rest of the room remained shocked in stillness, Eleanor still leaning across the table, balanced on it with her hips as she hung there, arms outstretched.

"Oh," Louise said, sounding as though she had just remembered something. "Have I introduced my attendant? This is my Servant, Shirou Emiya. I summoned him a few months back during the ceremony second year students have." I bowed my head appropriately at the introduction. "You may address him as either Shirou, Sir Emiya, or Servant as appropriate."

"S-s-s-summoned?" Eleanor stuttered, not quite comprehending what had just happened, but using Louise's voice as a life line to return to normal functionality. "As in a familiar?"

"Servant," Louise corrected. "The proper term is 'Servant'. It wouldn't do for a Valliere to be so impolite as to use the wrong title when addressing someone, now would it, big sister?"

I got the impression that there was a lot of history going on here. I could imagine that Louise had a lot of pent up frustration at her former lot in life. Before hand, she might have been willing to go along with it, perhaps secretly agreeing with it as her dues for being a failure. Now however she wasn't the zero she used to be, and intended to wreak horrible vengeance on those who tried to treat her as such currently.

It was a sentiment I supported. What was the point of working hard and achieving great leaps of improvement and skill if you don't get to rub it into those who doubted you along the way?

Eleanor seemed to gather herself back together. "Louise, you brat," she growled, apparently forgetting my presence in her urge to put her little sister back in her place. She shot her hands out again. Once more I recognized her assault. Two of them, simultaneously. One was the 'twisty nose grab'. The other was the 'devastating hair grind'.

Ka-ching!

Both were blocked simultaneously. In response Eleanor twisted her grip, and launched the fearsome 'knuckle to the forehead' while simultaneously going for the equally fearsome 'reverse chokehold'.

Ka-ching!

Much of the crowd of well wishing onlookers had begun to back off at this point. Louise continued to eat happily, trying to give the impression that she wasn't paying attention to the conflict unfolding literally inches away from her face, and failing horribly. Everyone knew she was watching, and everyone knew she was enjoying it. Several of the onlookers looked like they too were finding the on goings satisfactory. From the way several of the older ladies in the crowd had cooed over Louise, I got the impression that many of them considered her their surrogate delicate daughter/granddaughter. As the youngest of the family, she was everyone's darling.

Regardless of the popular opinion holding sway, I think I had managed to drive Eleanor beyond the point of reason. I could imagine why. From her opinion I was just a commoner: a lowly uneducated person whom had no right to interfere with the actions of those who were both their obvious social and intellectual superiors.

And so, Eleanor played right into my hands: she drew her wand.

Oh, Root, but I wanted to kill her then and there. Unfortunately, Siesta was watching me with the eyes of an eager hawk. I would have to settle for something a bit less fatal than I wished.

Even as the stick of darkened wood emerged from the enraged blonde's blouse, my hand shot forth. Tracing and throwing were simultaneous here. The hiss of steel parting the air was lost beneath the shout of Eleanor as she pointed her empty hand at me and shouted, "Thunderbolt!"

Many of the crowd had thrown themselves to the ground at that. Only Louise, myself, and Siesta had known what to look for and thus remained standing and unconcerned. When no bright flash of light and sudden percussion graced the room, everyone's attention was drawn to the fact that Eleanor had apparently tried to cast a spell empty handed.

Behind her, pinned to the wall by the Sai of Raphael Sanzio da Urbino,a weapon that the famous renaissance man had imported from the orient and learned to use as a whim in between his works, her wand hung uselessly.

"In the future," I spoke, my voice unconcerned, "please be advised that if you attempt to use magic against me again, I will simply kill you where you stand. Also, in regards to your failed engagement: the reason the Earl of Burgandi called it off is because you are a relentless harpy that would no doubt destroy his soul through your incessant and ruthless badgering. If you ever desire to find yourself a man I would advise you somehow manage to find a way to stop being such a heartless shrew."

The absolute silence that descended on the room was nearly deafening. From the almost imperceptible shuddering of my Master's shoulders, I could imagine even from behind the difficulty she was having in concealing her enjoyment of the scene.

It was at exactly that moment that the door to the tavern opened, and in blew a breeze of pink silk and hair.

The breeze was another woman, one who looked a few years younger than that gaping wide mouthed Eleanor, and a few years older than my now much happier Master. She was a bit shorter than the blonde, and was dressed in more elaborate looking outfit consisting of a blouse of exceptionally pale pink, a darker pink corset, and an even darker pink skirt beneath it. On her head she wore a very wide brimmed hat laced with a large feather on it, not unlike the one that Wardes once wore only more feminine. The newly arrived stranger tilted her head back and I knew instantly this must be Louise's second sister. Her features were far more similar to the youngest sister and her hair was nearly that exact shade of strawberry blonde.

It was like this was the Louise version two or something. And honestly, if this is what Louise had to look forward to becoming in a few years, than the girl was no doubt eagerly awaiting her final growth spurt. This girl was of average height, but had very delicate and good looking features, and a bust that was right at home with some of the more developed girls I'd run across in this land.

"Ara!" the newcomer said, her voice sounding breathy and happy. "I'm so glad I noticed the carriage out front! Big sister Eleanor, you're back so early!" The new girl sounded happy that the blond was back, not even noticing the tension in the air of the room she had just entered.

The only ones in the room that seemed able to do anything besides remain frozen and gawking were apparently myself, Siesta, and Louise. My pink haired Master rocketed to her feat, nearly slamming me in the stomach with the back of her chair as she wheeled about quickly.

"Big sister Cattleya!" she cheered, sounding genuinely happy. I eyed the pink haired girl at the door more carefully after she was identified properly. So this was the one who Louise thought about when she slept beside me. The relationship between the two pink haired girls was obviously a great deal different than the one between my Master and the still gaping blond. For one thing, Louise seemed happy to see the new girl.

"No way!" the identified Cattleya said, raising her hands to her mouth in happy surprise. "Little Louise! No, you're not so little anymore! You've come back as well!" I raised an eyebrow at her declaration as the two girls raced to embrace each other. Not so little anymore? Just how small did my Master used to be?

As the two of them separated, Cattleya glanced up and caught sight of me. Her eyes widened in surprise, and she brought her hands up to her face again. "Ah!" she gasped, "ah ah ah!" she began to blush lightly. I cocked my head to the side, not quite understanding what was happening. The larger pink haired woman walked up to me, still blushing as she did so, trailing the shorter pink haired girl. She placed a hand on my face gently, and I raised an eyebrow, not sure what to make at the contact.

Happily Cattleya suddenly turned to confront Louise. "Louise! You brought home a lover!" she declared, sounding ecstatic at the idea for some reason.

"We're/they're not lovers," Louise, myself, and Siesta all spoke at once, though afterwards Siesta flushed at her impropriety and glanced down, uncomfortable with having drawn attention to herself.

"But don't worry," I assured the now confused looking Cattleya. "We get that mistake a lot actually."

"Ara?" she said, her hand on her cheek as she tilted her head to the side, not quite sure what to make of the response. "Then you two are…?" she began, glancing at me and the maid standing next to me curiously.

"This is my Servant, Shirou Emiya," Louise introduced, gushing and acting more like a happy little girl than the fearsome Master or dignified noble that she usually was. "And my handmaid Siesta." Siesta looked surprised at her sudden promotion from simple maid to handmaid, but then she smiled happily at Louise. I'm not quite sure what the difference is, but it was apparently significant enough to warrant joy from the country girl.

This seemed to be enough for Cattleya to work with. She turned her smile back to the two of us and a little curtsey. I bowed, though it was probably more in the Japanese way then it was the local style, and Siesta curtseyed much deeper. "It's a pleasure to meet you both!" she beamed at us, and then clapped her hands together. "Oh! You simply must finish your journey with me in my carriage! The more the merrier!" Turning back to her sister, Cattleya continued. "I've recently found a thrush!"

As Louise gushed happily back at her sister, the two of them began to lead us out. Siesta followed quickly, moving to open the doors for the two as was apparently appropriate for her new found status. I lingered a big more, pausing at the door and turning back to the room proper.

Sure enough, it was still dead silent. With a lingering glance at the still frozen and pointing Eleanor, I narrowed my eyes. Holding my hand up so that it was directly in front of my face I released the trace on the sai still pinning her wand to the wall and simultaneously retraced it back into my grip, giving the impression that the weapon had simply disappeared and reappeared back in my hand as though by magic. The clatter of her wand briefly drew her eyes to where it now rested on the floor, and then she glanced back at me to find me holding the blade in front of my throat in a vaguely threatening manner. I gave her a cold smile which caused her to flinch back a bit, and then turned and exited after my Master, her sister, and her friend.

*Scene Break*

Cattleya's carriage turned out to be a zoo. I don't mean in the manner you'd get when you cram two sisters who got along wonderfully, a third who had just been threatened with death and was still out of her depths, a nervous maid trying not to think about how badly things could go if she messed up and insulted one of the nobles, and myself who was still trying to find a way to discreetly murder the blond in the carriage together.

I meant as in it was chock full of dangerous and exotic animals. Apparently Siesta and I were the only ones who noticed.

Cattleya chose a seat next to a gigantic boar, complete with enormous sharp tusks, brushing the creature's fur delicately the way anyone else would plump a pillow before leaning on it. The seat Louise chose, was between her better loved sister and a grizzly bear that was also sitting on a chair. The beast was so enormous it's scraggly head brushed against the ceiling of the considerably larger carriage, and didn't make so much as a threatening noise as Louise perched herself next to it. Eleanor, who looked disturbed that she had to sit next to the commoners casually rested her feet on top of the tiger that was laying out in the middle of the carriage, using it as an exotic foot rest, and the great beast barely let loose a grumble. Only Siesta, who sat between myself and the blond carefully to keep the two of us separate, went out of her way not to aggravate any of the potentially deadly animals that seemed to linger about in here like docile housecats.

"Big sister Cattleya likes animals," was as much as Louise would offer me before she was back to being ecstatically girly with her favored sister.

"I'd noticed," I muttered, eying one in particularly carefully. Eleanor let loose a sigh of long standing suffering, and I glanced at her, almost being capable of feeling pity for her. Almost. Both Siesta and the blond herself noticed my look. Siesta looked like she was preparing herself to shout 'for Louise's sister!' again, and the blond herself shrank down in a move not unlike the way Louise would shrink from her, and two bright spots of red appeared on the older girls face.

Instead I turned back to the one I'd been regarding earlier, and spoke suddenly. "Don't," I said sharply.

"But I haven't even done anything yet!" Eleanor yelped, and the rest of the cabin turned to stare at the two of us, even the distracted pinkettes.

"Not you," I told her without glancing at her. "You." The one I was addressing was the twelve foot anaconda that was hanging from the ceiling. The moment I had entered the carriage, it had began to unwind itself from its perch, and even now hung halfway down from the roof, and was eying me carefully. "Don't even think about it," I told it directly, eying it back every bit as carefully.

"Ah!" Louise and Siesta both said at once, immediately understanding just what I was talking about. On the other hand, the two remaining sisters looked a little lost.

"Don't worry," Cattleya assured me, smiling benevolently. "Mr. Scaly McWigglesworth is harmless. He's very friendly!"

"That's what's worrying me," I muttered. The snake, apparently named Mr. Scaly McWigglesworth through some act of either divine comedy or divine wrath, began to arch itself, its beady eyes locked on me as its tongue began to dart out faster and faster. "Don't," I ordered desperately. "I'm warning you!"

The enormous snake launched itself at me with a happy hiss. I don't even know how I could identify the hiss as happy. It was a hiss, and hisses weren't exactly known for being particularly emotive. Still, this hiss was definitely full of joy. I barely got a chance to get my arm up to guard my neck and Siesta had to throw herself to the ground, ending up sprawled out on top of the tiger which didn't seem to mind the extra weight suddenly on top of it, as Mr. Scaly's body wrapped around me over and over again, pinning my arms to my body as it hugged me. I gasped for breath as it finally got itself arranged, rubbing its enormous spade shaped head against my cheek, still emitting its happy hisses. Let me tell you, when a snake, especially a constrictor type like an anaconda, hugs you, you know it.

"Ara!" Cattleya declared, clasping both her hands together and holding them near her face as she beamed at me happily. "Mr. McWigglesworth likes you!"

"You know," Louise commented, apparently coming back from whatever girlish imaginary land the presence of her much loved sister brought her to long enough to be able to dryly quip at me, "it's been so long since that's happened that I'd almost forgotten about it." Siesta, who was still on top of the tiger and looked like she was beginning to get comfortable there, simply nodded, eying the snake carefully. I got the impression she didn't like scaly things quite as much as they like me, and even now was contemplating the safety of just staying where she was.

"You know," I said to the snake as it hugged me enthusiastically. "If you don't let my arms go, I won't be able to scratch your head," I pointed out, trying to negotiate a partial release from its affection.

"As if an animal would understand…" Eleanor began to point out haughtily, apparently thinking now that I didn't have my arms free I wouldn't be able to stab her and deciding that was reason enough to begin talking again, but then interrupted herself by gawking as the anaconda quickly rearranged itself so that I could move my arms again. It remained wrapped around me, but now it was loose enough for me to pull my arms free, and it quickly rested its head in my lap, still hissing.

With a sigh, I settled down to pass the trip once more catering to the whims of a demanding reptile.

*Scene Break*

It wasn't till nearly midnight that we finally arrived at the Valliere manor proper. It was enormous. I was used to seeing some pretty grand places in my travels, but this one quite possibly took the cake on them all. The manor itself looked like a typically western house from my perspective, three stories high and nine rooms wide from the front. It probably had close to seventy rooms proper within it. Surrounding it was a grand stone wall much more typical with some of the other castle's I'd seen in this land. It was properly wooded, but judging from the lights I saw hovering in the distance, there were probably a few other buildings nestled into the encircling walls. I hazarded a guess that the place probably had a barracks in it as well, housing soldiers and perhaps the hired help too. Some place this big probably required nearly a legion of maids, butlers, cooks, gardeners, and general help.

Once we arrived, we were greeted by a long line of maids and butlers, ranging from around the same age as Louise herself to old enough to be my grandmother. They greeted the three sisters in unison, and one particularly austere fellow, probably the head butler or some equally important rank of servant, informed the three that the duchess was waiting for them in the dining hall, and that they would be eating with her shortly.

Since I was considered a personal attendant to Louise I was allowed to come along to the dining hall. Siesta, apparently due to her newly found status as a handmaiden also found herself being brought along. We weren't there to actually eat; we were just there to stand behind Louise as she was served so that she could look important and we could be on hand in case she needed something.

Still, despite the fact that Siesta and I had both been at two meals so far that we couldn't participate in, the two of us maintained properly suitable stances as we waited at attention. Siesta had clasped both her hands together in front of her, keeping her head lowered deferentially to Louise's left, and I stood to her right with my feet shoulder width apart and my arms crossed. I was attentively watching the surroundings, taking note of the comings and goings of the other servants as they brought out food and served dishes to the four nobles who were sitting. It was mostly for show, seeing as I really doubt there were any genuine assassins around, but it let me take in the ostentatious surroundings, and get my first good look at the duchess.

It was easy to see where Louise and Cattleya both got their features from. Their mother had long pinkish hair herself, piled on top of her head in a severe manner. She was a good bit taller than either of those two though, an aspect that had been passed down to the Eleanor instead. The duchess moved with poise so exact and perfect that it was easy to see just why Louise had such a fondness for custom. She was dressed in royal purple, though she too favored the austere and simple nature of her daughters clothing. She also had eyes that looked like they were carved out of rock.

My first impression of her was genuine hard ass.

The meal proceeded in near perfect silence as the first three courses were set out. It wasn't until the fourth course, apparently a dessert of some kind that Louise finally broke the stillness.

"Mother," she began, speaking in a very polite and somewhat nervous tone.

Eleanor interrupted instantly. "Mother," she over rode my little Master, speaking in an abrupt and commanding manner, "please tell Louise to abandon her foolish thoughts about joining this war effort!"

"I am not being foolish," Louise retorted, puffing her cheeks out angrily. When Eleanor turned to glare at her she flinched backwards instinctively before realizing that she had a table between her eldest sister and herself, and that I had already proven cable of a feat she hadn't been able to accomplish: blocking Eleanor's dreaded facial assaults.

"You are if you're thinking of being in a war! War is for men," Eleanor declared, before giving her youngest sister a wicked look. "You should just stay home and prepare yourself for marital duty. It's not like you're accomplishing anything at the magic school. You still have yet to accomplish even the most simple of spells…"

With an angry flush Louise pulled her wand out. It was a smooth and practiced motion, one of the ones I insisted she drilled at. Before the wand had even finished clearing the sleeve where my little Master had begun storing it she had already incanted, "Silence."

Eleanor flinched back, probably do to her own practical experience with the explosions that usually resulted from Louise's older efforts. When nothing happened, she gave a haughty smile and opened her mouth to chide her sister, only to halt in surprise when she realized that nothing was coming out.

"I cast that one well enough, didn't I big sister?" Louise told her. She had a happy note to her voice, and I suspected this was one her most fondest and treasured dreams, carefully and secretly cherished and nurtured all her life. Several of the staff on hand looked nervous. Louise's other big sister, had raised her hand to her lips in worry. Louise's mother on the other hand had put down her silverware and was looking at her youngest daughter with an expression that didn't bode well.

"Louise! That's wonderful!" Cattleya declared smiling proudly at her little sister. I agreed with her immensely, though I suspect Cattleya was talking about Louise's success at magic whereas I was considering shutting the harpy up.

"As encouraging as it is to see such improvement," the duchess said, her voice elegant and cold as ice, "but your ability to do so does not mean that you should be casting magic on your sister at the dinner table. Release the spell immediately."

Louise flushed, and did as ordered. I kept an eye on the duchess, and noticed that she was observing her youngest very carefully, tracking every movement of the wand as Louise released the spell and stored it back in her sleeve. The duchess' eyes narrowed as she studied the sheathing movement every bit as carefully as the casting.

"Louise, you brat," Eleanor ground out, standing from her seat, her face turning red with anger. I cleared my throat, and when the eldest sister's eyes turned to me in her rage, she saw that in the hand concealed in the crook of my elbow I had once more traced the sai. The red left her face except for two small spots on her cheeks, and the tall blond sat down instantly. I de-traced the weapon, but when I swept the room with my eyes again, I found that the duchess was now regarding me with a narrowed gaze.

"Louise," she said, her attention locked completely on me, "tell me, who is this commoner." It wasn't a question, and Louise responded instantly, sounding nervous.

"This is my Servant, Shirou Emiya," she introduced me, glancing at me from the corner of her eye. It looked like her mother made her nervous, in much the same way as Eleanor did. Given that I couldn't see this living block of carved rock ever engaging in something as childish as face pulling, I assumed it had to do with maternal respect.

"Servant?" the duchess asked, raising a cool eyebrow. "I do not recall sending one of our staff to assist you at the castle. Have you taken to paying his stipend from your allowance?"

It rapidly appeared as though Louise was losing her nerve in the face of her mother's intimidating presence. Once more, she glanced back at me, a note of panic beginning to form in her eyes. I decided to take over for now and focus the attention of the room on me long enough for her to regain her composure.

"Servant is the title given to a summoned human," I spoke for the first time since we'd arrived at the manor. The fact that I was willing to do so despite the differences in social status raised a few eyebrows. The duchess' weren't among them. She reacted as though nothing untoward had happened.

"A summoned human? I recall Louise writing home about this in the past," she remarked. She continued to study me, and I began to get an inkling as to why she made Louise so nervous. The duchess wore the weight of authority over herself so thickly that even if she had been naked, bald, and covered in mud I still would have no choice but to regard her as at least an equal. "Tell me then, familiar," she said frankly, regarding me with cool disdain even as she deliberately skipped use of my title, "what pray tell gives you call to claim such a title?"

This definitely wasn't a woman used to having people talk back to her. I kept meeting her eyes as I answered. "Though there is no tradition for it here, in my homeland the summoning of humans while not exactly common is not unheard of. When our research revealed no parallels in your culture, my Master has agreed to abide by the traditions of my own in regards to my service, including the use of the title, duchess," I answered her, blatantly using her own title.

The entire dining hall, and it was a very big dining hall, was gradually becoming more and more nervous I noted. Louise's unease had spread to her other two sisters as they both glanced between myself and their mother. The maids and butlers brining the food out and taking it away as appropriate had begun to speed up, as though eager not to be here if this little confrontation escalated.

The duchess continued to study me, her eyes sharp. Finally, she spoke. "Tell me, your element is earth, isn't it." It was not a question, it was a declaration.

This one was definitely sharp. I began to see where my Master got it from. I had no idea where she had gotten the information she used to make that deduction. Maybe she had pieced it together when she had seen my brief concealed tracing, though most people would have assumed that I had just hidden the blade. Maybe she intuited it when she determined that despite the way I was dressed in what amounted to rags compared to what the magic users of this world wear I was still handling myself with confident composure instead of the desperate dissembling commoners normally used when in her presence. Whatever it was, she had determined that I was a magus, and made an accurate assumption of my abilities based on what she knew. An earth user would be the one most likely to be able to form and dissolve blades at will, even if they were no more than a dot user like Guiche.

"Not precisely," I answered her. Across the table Eleanor let loose an 'eh?' and turned to gape at me while Cattleya clapped her hands together and gave her own 'ah!' at my admittance of being a magi. "The magic of my homeland developed quite differently than your own. My skills are similar enough in nature for your assumption not to be entirely incorrect."

"You're a noble?" Eleanor gasped, her surprise enough for her to apparently risk the turbulent waters of this conversation. I did not break my eyes away from the duchess however.

"Again, not precisely," I answered, speaking to her without looking. "Magical ability has no bearing on social status in my homeland. It would be more accurate for you to think of me as one of the disposed magic users then as a proper noble." Occasionally a magic user would abandon their name, or be cast out of their families for various reasons or crimes. They typically became mercenaries or criminals though some became craftsmen or found employment that didn't rely on their magic.

"Then tell me, Shirou Emiya," the duchess spoke up, still refusing to use my title and this time one of her eyebrows quirked in a way which might have indicated a facial expression, "why would one such as yourself serve a simple girl like my daughter?" And that appeared to be the crux of her attention to me. Just what were my intentions towards her innocent and naïve little girl? I openly wore a sword, brazenly threatened one of her other daughters at her own table, and freely compared myself to an outcast caste that most often became people who killed for money. Just what the hell was I doing freely demeaning myself by spending my time serving a small little schoolgirl when I could obviously be out there making far more money in a far more dignified manner by murdering for gold?

"Initially? Purely out of respect for the summons contract," I admit freely. "It is considered an important ritual in my homeland, and I continued my service out of a desire to protect the sacred rite." That seemed to make a great deal of sense to the duchess. Louise definitely got her respect for tradition from her maternal side. "However, though inexperienced Louise has proven herself capable of handling the responsibilities associated with being a Master, the title assigned to those who have summoned Servants. She had displayed superb work ethics, both in her academic studies and her personal endeavors, has proven herself capable of accepting critique in order to improve herself, as well as being able to receive advice when initiating a plan of action. I could do far worse than 'a simple girl like your daughter' when it comes to whom I receive orders from."

I'm not sure which part of my explanation did it, but the duchess seemed satisfied by my answer. She turned her regard away from me and back to her plate.

"Louise," she said, causing my pink haired Master to jump in her seat. "We shall continue the discussion of your intentions of joining the military when your father returns tomorrow." That seemed to end the conversation for the night.

*Scene Break*

That night Siesta and I were put up in small room at the edge of the wing where Louise and her family slept. It was a tiny and undecorated place used for visiting nobles to house their retinues in such a way that they'd be nearby to attend to duties and yet far enough away that the nobles could pretend they didn't exist. When we had arrived there had been a meal set for the two of us, but only I'd been able to sit down and eat. Siesta, as a handmaiden, was required to attend Louise as she prepared herself for bed, and so had immediately been dragged out of the room to go see to her new duties.

I had assumed that it would be a quick thing. After all, I'd been helping the smaller pink haired girl do just that myself for the last few months. Instead after I had waited the first hour, I had decided that now that Louise was with her status conscious family that there must be some kind of ritual that she was expected to go through; something like having her hair combed a hundred times while someone sprays her with perfume and she has all of her fingers and toes manicured simultaneously or something equally extravagant. I decided to help myself to the food that had been prepared.

It wasn't till a half hour after that that Siesta finally made it back to the room. And when she did she had a surprise.

"Tada!" she proclaimed showing a large bottle of what looked like wine. "Wow! This is such a big castle, I think I got a little lost earlier!" She began to make her way over to the table where I had left her portion of the food. She put the wine bottle down and attempted to sit, but promptly missed her seat and found herself on her butt on the floor. "Ouchie," she moaned, sounding more sheepish then in pain.

"Siesta," I said regarding her carefully. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine!" she chirped, waving at me from the ground and began to stand up. In doing so she leaned forward so that she was on all fours before attempting to move to two legs. Unfortunately, getting to all fours had meant she had placed herself partially under the table, so when she stood she bumped her head against it, sending herself back to the floor and causing the dishes to rattle slightly. "Oh no!" she declared, still laying on the floor. "The wine!"

"I'm sure the wine's all right," I assure her, moving over to give her a hand. "What about your head?"

"No! The wine is more important! Protect the wine, Shirou, protect the wine!" she told me, shouting her imperative as I finally righted her.

"Where did you get the wine in the first place?" I asked, confused by why the bottle was apparently so important.

"I stole it!" she told me happily, leaning against me as I got her to her feet. Despite her close proximity, she didn't attempt to take advantage of the situation. Instead she reached childishly for the bottle of wine still resting on the table. "Gimme!"

"You stole the wine?" I asked, unable to believe what I was hearing from the usually proper maid. Well, proper about her duty anyway. "Siesta," I said, eying her carefully as she managed to recover her prize. "How much did you drink before you stole it?"

"Lots!" she said happily. Her face was bright red as she took the bottle and put it to her lips, drinking it straight from the container. "I was helping some of the other maids clean up, and there was a half empty glass, so I took a sip, and then I saw another glass so I took another sip, and then another glass and another sip…" she began to explain pulling away from me so she could start spinning for no reason. "And then I saw this bottle and I was all 'Yay! More wine!' So then I came back here so I could drink it with you, Shirou!"

"Um," I said, not quite sure what the proper response to this situation was. It seems like Siesta was a bad drunk. "I'm not sure if we should be drinking that right now…" I began, and was cut off when Siesta suddenly grabbed my collar and dragged me down to face level.

"You talking to me?" she said, and her voice was for some reason very dark and very scary.

"Wait, what?" I managed to get out, completely out of my depths here. Siesta glared at me, and growled.

"I said you talking to me, punk?" she snarled. "You saying you to good to drink with me? Is that what you saying?" She glanced around the room and then returned to sneering at me from an inch away. "There's no one else here, so you must be talking to me. So what is it? You gonna drink or am I gonna have to shove this bottle down your throat, you wimp?"

It appeared as though Siesta was a very bad drunk. Quite possibly the worse drunk I've ever seen. Not even Rin, the one time I'd ever seen her touch alcohol, was this bad. And Rin had been very bad.

"Okay?" I managed to get out, not sure if I was agreeing with her or asking if she was alright. Instantly she let go of me, and began beaming happily again.

"Yay! Drink, Shirou, drink!" she cheered, apparently not even remembering her mood from a second ago. I sighed and put the bottle to my lips.

It was an quarter hour later, and between the two of us we had managed to get the bottle down by about a quarter when the door to our room slammed open. Siesta yelled something about 'never being taken alive' and dived under the bed, still clutching her new favorite drink with her. I glanced over at the intruder, and found it to be Louise and not an angry chef coming to find where a bottle of what was apparently extremely potent spirits had gone off to.

The moment I affirmed her identity I noticed a few things about her. She was clothed in a ridiculously frilly and expensive looking gown of what looked to be silk though I have no idea how they would get the rare fabric in this world. I had the impression that there wasn't much trade with the countries to the east. The most noticeable thing about her though was the fact that her hair was mussed, her cheeks were red, her eyes were wide, and she looked absolutely terrified.

"Master," I said, rising quickly and looking her over carefully. "What is it, what's the matter?" Had there been an attack? Was there an assassin stalking the hallways even now? This place had superb security. Every guard here was well paid and kept to a higher standard. I'm not sure I could sneak into here if I had to.

"Shirou," Louise gasped, giving me a haunted look. "By the Root." I blinked. When had she started swearing by the Root? "There's no other way. I order you to cut my eyes out."

"Wait, what?" I asked, completely nonplussed by the self destructive order. For the second time that night I found my face dragged down to stare in to that of a much smaller girl then me.

"My eyes, Servant. Cut them out immediately!" she ordered, glaring at me. "It's too late to save them. The only thing I can do now is have them removed so that they never have to witness something like that again!"

"Louise!" Siesta proclaimed, staring up from under the bed. "Louise! Drink with us!" she ordered, dragging the bottle out from where it had been wrapped protectively with her body and holding it out to the smaller noble girl.

Louise's eyes widened and she released me. "That's even better than being blind!" she declared, leaping at the bottle and shamelessly throwing it back. I watched as her throat began moving as she gulped down more than I'd ever seen her drink in her life.

"What the hell is going on here?" I finally asked, straightening up with a wince. I think I might have slipped a disc with the way I kept getting dragged down to eye level.

Louise ignored me in favor of throwing back more of the booze. Siesta ignored me to in favor of cheering Louise on, chanting, "Chug! Chug! Chug!"

Okay, that's it. I stride over to Louise, taking the bottle firmly from her hand. Desperately she tried to snatch it back, and I held it above my head, leaving the little girl to jump like a kitten trying to catch a string that someone was teasing them with. "That's enough. Now tell me what's going on before I throw this out the window and tie you up before you hurt yourself," I ordered, trying to take charge of the madhouse the room had become.

"It…" Louise shuddered, as though she couldn't bear the thought of putting it into words. "It's Eleanor," she finally said. That got my attention.

"Wait, did something happen to her?" I asked, leaning forward eagerly. "Did some assassin manage to make it in and kill her in a terribly depraved way? Or maybe one of the staff finally got sick of her and poisoned her?" Oh please, let her be dead.

My questions seemed to set something off in Siesta's drunken mind. "For Louise's sister!" she declared, sounding her battle cry as she jumped me again, aiming her cannons at my head once more. I was caught by surprise and knocked onto one of the beds as Siesta happily began molesting me. Louise spotted the opportunity, and launched herself into the mix, her goal the bottle that was suddenly once more in reach.

"No!" she answered, even as she wrestled my arm, trying to get the bottle I was using every ounce of my dexterity to keep away from her while simultaneously struggling with Siesta's assault. "You don't understand! I was coming here to talk to Shirou about tomorrow and what I could say to my parents to convince them to let me go when I heard a noise. It was coming from Eleanor's room, so I stopped to check if she was okay. I looked in, and now…" she shuddered, "I need to forget! It was…" she shuddered apparently unable to say it clearly for some reason. "It was like chapter twelve of The Sky Pirate and the Merchant's Daughter!" Apparently I was supposed to understand what the obscure reference from a book I'd never read, nor particularly want to read, meant.

Surprisingly, or perhaps unsurprisingly, Siesta did.

"No!" she said, gasping in delight. She unraveled herself from around me so that she could kneel in front of Louise and grasp her by the shoulders, staring at her with unbridled curiosity. Louise didn't seem to be mirroring that emotion at the moment. "You mean…."

"Yes!" Louise cried, sounding distraught.

"Even with…" Siesta's eyes widened even further and she sounded like she couldn't believe what she was hearing. I hadn't read the books, but from what I'd heard, I don't think I want to know what the maid was referencing.

"Yes!" Louise wailed, sounding even more distraught.

"There was even the spanking?" Siesta crowed, and I got the impression that chapter twelve had been particularly raunchy, even compared to the standard of the others.

"She was doing it herself!" Louise finally couldn't bear the thought any longer, and launched herself at the bottle. Now that I had an inkling about what had occurred and realized what she was attempting I let her have it. If it was bad enough that she had considered cutting her eyes out, then drinking till she couldn't remember it was a perfectly logical alternative.

I now decided to concentrate all my efforts on erasing the conversation so far from my head as well.

Siesta seemed to miss the mood completely. A very bad drunk indeed. "I knew it!" she declared instead, hugging herself and wiggling in her seat. "You nobles are so repressed and so constrained that when you get in the bedroom…" she trailed off and let loose a girlish squeal. Don't think about it, don't think about it, don't think about it. "And Eleanor! I knew she was so domineering normally, but for her to be the complete opposite when…" the maid abandoned comprehensible words, put both her hands on her cheeks while blushing, and began wiggling again. "Kyaa!" she shrieked happily.

Don't think about it, don't think about it, don't think about it….

Louise's face had begun to turn red as all the alcohol hit her slender frame at once. "But why!" she wailed, sounding bitter and confused. "Why was she saying Shirou's name?"

"Shirou is so strong and so manly, that even noble girls long to be brought over his knee and…" Siesta began, and then paused. "What!" she roared, slipping back into angry mode. "That bitch is after my man!"

That's it. I'm done. I don't want to play anymore. I grabbed the bottle from Louise's hands and began my own desperate drinking. It was either that or cutting off my own ears.

*Scene Break*

When Louise's father arrived the next day, it was to find his youngest daughter trying desperately to conceal what must have been the most massive hangover in her young life. I envied her. Her slim frame combined with the potency of the wine that Siesta had filched last night had combined to achieve her desired effect. I, on the other hand, had simply too high an alcohol tolerance to be able to be so lucky. The drunken shenanigans of the night before, mostly spurred at Siesta's intoxicated whims, had ensured that we hadn't actually gotten to sleep till an indecently late hour.

Siesta, the hardy country girl that she was, had woken bright an early and insanely chirpy.

Then she saw the devastation she had wrought the night before, and gone straight to vastly nervous about the potential consequences. I had initially thought we were going to have to tell Louise's family that the young girl was still tired from her travels, but instead Louise got to witness the craftiness of the supposedly inferior commoners.

It turns out that some of the mages who lose their names make really good money by pretending to be simply commoners, and selling their healing skills under the table to staff at places like this for very profitable prices. An hour later and after an exchange of some smaller jewelry what I learned to be the fourth daughter of a poor family whom had chosen to run away rather than get married to a detestable lecher had come and gone, and Louise was once more capable of human thought and action. The end result was the Louise had been forced to use far more makeup than was appropriate in order to cover the bags of her eyes. I was feeling a little rough around the edges personally, but I had fought in worse conditions before, and so endured.

Just in time to receive the summons to breakfast with her newly returned father.

"Damn that idiot birdbrain! Taking advantage of a young princess like that," the duke swore angrily, pounding away at the table in front of him. The duke was an older gentleman, and he looked like it was beginning to show. Though he still appeared to be strong and capable of handling himself in a fight, his blond hair was beginning to grey noticeably, and lines had begun to etch themselves into his face. He was well dressed, just shy of extravagantly dressed as a matter of fact. It seemed he didn't share the rest of his family's fondness for austerity. He had just returned from the capital and a meeting with one of the ministers who was apparently an idiot. He did not seem happy with the meeting either.

Once more the family had gathered together to eat, this time wholly assembled. Cattleya and the duke and duchess all appeared as though they were well rested and attentive. Louise was very carefully attempting to appear the same, though every time the duke pounded on the table she winced as the noise assaulted her delicate head. Eleanor also looked tired, and I very carefully did not think about what that meant. Or why she kept glancing over at me at my post behind my Master with two bright red spots on her cheeks. I didn't think about that either.

I really did not want to know. No matter how much Siesta tried to describe the appropriate chapter from her book in great lurid detail.

This time Siesta was not in attendance. She had been snatched up with Louise's permission by the rest of the household's cleaning staff early this morning as they had scrambled to clean the manor suitably when news of the duke's return had come. Strictly speaking I shouldn't be present either, seeing as this was a family event. However, despite the horrors of last night Louise and I had managed to hammer together an appropriate plan for convincing the rest of her family to approve her war efforts. My presence was required, both for the argument itself and for moral support. Louise really wasn't looking forward to the potential backlash from her family.

Still, despite her nervousness and her hangover Louise was paying careful attention to her father as he continued to vent his frustration about the war effort. Apparently the duke was firmly against the campaign in the first place. Instead of the planned invasion, he favored the longer and safer blockade option instead. It made sense. Albion was a floating continent. If they could manage to capture air superiority, a remarkably easy thing to do after the loss of most of Albion's fleet at Tarbes, then they could simply wait to starve them out.

"Father," she said, interrupting the dukes rant, "would you mind if I ask you a question?"

The duke glanced at Louise, and then smiled. "Of course, daughter. But first, come and give your father a hug," he ordered her though the bluntness of his command was softened by his expression. Though his expression didn't quite make it to happy when she obeyed, it definitely looked like it lifted his mood considerably. I got the impression that for all his bluster everyone of his daughters had him wrapped around their little fingers. He looked like a good father like that.

"Why is it that you're so opposed to the invasion?" Louise asked, returning to her seat. I waited patiently behind her. If she could identify his precise dissatisfaction, than we could tailor her argument to counter it.

"Because we lack the logistics to be able to guarantee victory," he declared, and then picked up his fork and knife and began arranging his food into what looked like some kind of geographical representation. "It's common military knowledge that the only time you can safely engage the enemy is with three times their number. We may outnumber the Albion forces at the moment, but it's only by a fifth. Combined with the fact that they posses superior knowledge of the geography means that every battle has the potential of being lost."

"Why three times? Why not just double?" Louise asked, surprising her father as she focused on that particular segment of his lecture. He glanced at his daughter, away from his attempts at emulating geography using bacon and eggs to find his youngest carefully studying his work, apparently getting something out of it besides hunger.

"It's just common military doctrine," he said, looking nonplussed at his darling little girl's line of reasoning. He probably didn't even realize for himself where the figures came along from.

"Servant," Louise said absentmindedly, probably so used to me having the answers and giving them freely that she didn't even realized she had effectively just cut her father out of his own explanation.

"Against people of equal skills, generally speaking two on one is sufficient to ensure victory," I told her, actually having the answer she was looking for. "But you have to assume as well that skills would be unequal. Also generally speaking a skilled fighter could effectively hold off or surpass two individual combatants, but a third would be enough to close even that distance."

"What about people like yourself, who can handle significantly more than three?" she asked, reaching over with her fork to poke at a bit of bacon on her father's plate which represented a fragment of the fast combined might of Tristain and Germania.

"Exceptional assets will probably be identified earlier on in the campaign, and the opposing side will devise particular strategies for dealing with them, either through the deployment of their own exceptional or through the careful use of tactics," I answered easily.

Louise's father eyed me carefully nodding his head slowly at my explanation. I stood steadfast despite his regard, and the regard of the rest of the family as well. Eleanor was looking resolutely at her plate, while Cattleya had her head cocked to the side in confusion, not comprehending much of what we were talking about. The duchess on the other hand was simply watching me and her daughter carefully, apparently using that impressive deductive intellect of hers to probably scrap together far more than she should be capable of.

"Is there a way to counter this disadvantage?" Louise asked, dismissing me without a second thought after my explanation and returning back to her father instead. I resumed my patient stance, not moving anything but my eyes as I continued to watch over the scene.

"A few," the duke answered his daughter carefully, tearing his eyes off me to return to his simulated campaign. "A significantly disciplined training regiment could raise the chances of victory, as well as properly superior air fleet. However, both of these would require time and finances. With the speed that that bird-brained minister is pushing this invasion most of our forces will be undertrained, lowering the potential advantage of our numerical superiority. In the end the campaign will be based upon the capturing of strategic objectives and locations."

Louise nodded again, and continued to endear me to her father by again speaking over her shoulder without a second thought. "Servant."

"The duke hasn't taken into account the period of strife predating the conflict," I pointed out. "Many amongst the nobility will still be reeling from the change of leadership. Though some of them will continue to serve the new regime, but others might be persuaded to join the invasion in order to achieve retribution against what was previously an opposing force. The populace in general will most likely be indifferent to the ideology behind the war, and will most likely be swayed to whichever side they feel would be the most beneficial. It would depend on whether the Tristain/Germanian forces go on burning everything in their path, or extending good will to the conquered. However, none of these factors can be predicted accurately with the current level of intelligence anyone here has on the situation."

"That is correct," the duke said slowly, giving me a look like he wasn't sure if he wanted to throw me out for contradicting him or begin an intellectual debate over the points I had brought up. "Tell me, Servant wasn't it?" he began, using my proper title easily. Considering the reception I had received from his wife last night I had thought it would be a bit harder to get him to do that. "Do you have any experience with war?"

"Only indirectly," I answered. "Most of my experience comes from smaller campaigns: eliminating bandits or malicious non humans, defending small objectives, locating and acquiring various artifacts or items, things of that nature."

"Defending small objectives?" he inquired, and then glanced at Louise. "Small objectives such as my daughter?" he supplied dryly, smiling down at his youngest. Louise flushed at his teasing.

"Indeed," I supplied back, unable to suppress my own small half grin. Louise puffed her cheeks out as I joined in on ribbing.

"The missive my wife sent me last night spoke of you in a positive light," the duke told me, sitting down and folding his arms as he studied me carefully. So that was why he was so willing to use my title, and even knew what it was. "Tell me," he said, his voice authoritative as he drew himself up. "What is your opinion on this campaign?"

Ah. So that's it. I've already shown myself to be of a militant nature. Now he was trying to determine if it was my influence that had caused his daughter to become so interested in serving herself.

"I dislike participating in larger conflicts," I answered directly back. "Wars are mostly pointless things brought about by those who'll just spend their time in the back profiting while the ones in the front die. Beyond that, I'm a foreigner. I have no particular interest in any of the countries involved," I shrugged.

"And if my little Louise would join? What then?" he asked.

"Then I would obey my Master's orders, and only my Master's orders. My duty would be to protect her and accomplish her objectives. Only hers. Though if she were to order me to support in battle, than I would do," I responded immediately. The duke leaned back, apparently satisfied. Still he had one more question for me.

"And if the battle was hopeless? Would you still fight it?" he asked. Though the question sounded like it was simply about the campaign, it was about actually about his daughter again. What he was really asking was 'how far would you go to serve her?'

My smile was cold. "I am a Servant. I am a weapon, wielded by my Master. By her orders, I shall fight. At her command I shall die." My voice was absolutely calm, and my answer given with such surety that the duke opened his eyes a little startled. Eleanor continued to stare at her plate, but the spots of red on her cheeks had grown. I carefully did not think about that. Cattleya on the other hand was regarding me with an empathetic gaze, full of sorrow. She was a gentle and sheltered girl and I doubt she'd had experience with people like me before.

Strangely enough, the duchess actually quirked her lips in what might have been a smile. It was the first time I'd seen a change of expression on her that hadn't been her eyebrows.

Louise turned enough for me to see her give me a small smile. "Truly," she murmured, sounding amused, "I have a terrifying Servant."

"No more terrifying than my Master," I told her back, my own wry grin touching my lips briefly.

The duke nodded then, breaking the still scene. "Very good. It seems my little Louise has found herself a reliable guard." He closed his eyes and sighed heavily before continuing. "Nonetheless, I still cannot condone your joining the army, Louise," he declared turning his attention now solely to his daughter.

Louise took a deep breath, before returning her father's gaze resolutely. "May I inquire into the specifics of your reasoning? If possible, I would assure your doubts and present my case for my intended actions."

This didn't seem to be the expected reaction from her. The duke raised his eyebrow, and the rest of the family stayed silent, watching the scene as it unfolded before them. Breakfast had apparently been forgotten completely. A shame. The bacon looked especially tender.

"Very well then," the duke said. It seemed like he was surprised by the growth in maturity from his youngest, but was willing to acknowledge it. It looked like if Louise could adequately defend her choice, then her father would allow her to make it. "First off, though women are accepted into many positions in this day and age not many choose to enlist with the army. Thus it will be difficult to impossible for you to maintain a standard of decency and privacy that is acceptable in my eyes while serving. Furthermore the stress of war can have an adverse affect on many of the sorts of men who would enlist. Though your Servant has proven of adequate loyalty, I am unable to ascertain his ability to properly protect you." The first shot was that of a father worried for his daughter's safety when surrounded by strange dangerous men.

"Very well then," Louise acknowledged, and she folded her arms as she began her counter argument. "First off, I can ensure you that I won't be enlisting in the army proper. Instead, I will be attending as the court lady of princess Henrietta." This raised her father's eyebrow in curiosity, so Louise continued to explain. "The princess has requested my attendance in regards to certain tasks of delicate nature that she would be unable to rely upon others to discretely handle. Consequentially, I will be afforded the proper lodgings and protections of one under her highness' direct command."

Louise obviously hadn't explained this before in her earlier letters. The duke nodded slowly, rolling over this new information in his head. "I see. In which case you would also be avoiding the front lines." The duke looked relieved at that news. His fear for Louise's personal safety was probably going to be the second point he brought up. However, now he had an opening to a third argument, which he launched immediately. "And how is it that the princess is confident enough in your ability to complete these tasks that she would assign you?" he asked next.

Here, Louise paused. With a grimace, she turned to give me a brief look. I nodded in response.

"My Master, under direct orders from the princess herself is unable to properly answer that question," I spoke up, drawing attention to myself. The duke blinked in surprise, leaning back to regard me. "However," I continued, drawling a little bit. "I myself owe no allegiance to princess Henrietta, and thus am not disobeying anyone by answering instead." I glanced again at Louise, and she kept her mouth firmly shut. "Sense my Master is not ordering me to stop talking, I can feel safe in assuring you that she has already accomplished three such tasks for the princess, two of which were requested directly and the third of which was taken at my Master's own initiative and accomplished in a fashion which was regarded satisfactory by the princess in retrospect."

"Three? Already?" the duke said sharply, alternating his looks between me and his daughter, trying to judge from her expression the veracity of my statement. "And they were?" he kept his attention on Louise as I served as her mouthpiece.

"The first was the penetration of Albion itself during its civil war in order to retrieve a specific object," I answered, leaving the nature of the object purposefully vague. "The third was to discretely gather information which led to the identification and arrest of several Albion conspirators."

"The penetration of Albion!" the duke roared, not sounding happy about the inherent dangers of that particular task. "And information gathering," he paused and looked hard at the pink haired girl. "High Court Justice Richmon," he declared, his hands locked on the table so hard they turned white. Richmon I had found out later through rumors had been the one who Henrietta had an appointment with in the theater when Louise and I dropped her off. Apparently it had been supposed to be a secret, and thus everyone knew about it.

"Though peripheral, our assistance was utilized in that particular situation," I acknowledged freely, not even trying to conceal it. I'm pretty sure the duke would be discreet about it. If word leaked out that his daughter had been involved, then someone of the now deceased Court Justice's friends might try their hand at a little vengeance. I'd cut their hands off, naturally, but it would be annoying to have to clean up afterwards.

"That my daughter would be involved in such things," the duke trembled, though I wasn't sure if it was anger over her involvement without his knowing, fear in the dangers that Louise was apparently exposed to quite regularly, or pride over her achievements thus far. "And the third?" he asked, looking at me directly.

This time, Louise grimaced. "I'm afraid due to the potential damage to certain individuals' reputations that my Master would prefer that I share no details in this matter," I interpreted her signal accurately. The duke was no fool though. If it had been taken at Louise's own initiative and at the princess' behest that meant it had to have been something that had affected the princess that Louise had had to respond to quickly. Given the knowledge that Louise had been involved with punishing the one who had been responsible for the princess' kidnapping, then it wasn't impossible to think that Louise had been involved with stopping the kidnapping itself.

The gears ran through the duke's mind as he sat still at the table, his eyes on his daughter like a hawk. This was definitely a noble of the old school, when the caste as a whole had worn that title as a measure every bit as commanding of respect as Chevalier was worn now. All this information came together to paint a picture that his daughter was both well known by and thought favorably of by the ruler of the country. Even if he ordered Louise to stay home, then if the princess truly required it he would receive an order of his own to let his daughter go. Disobeying would be treason. The Valliere family was well thought of by most of the country, political rivals and enemies notwithstanding. If doubt came down on their loyalty, especially in as turbulent a time as war, then it could spell disaster for them.

"I see," he murmured. From the looks of it, he and his wife were the only ones here who got the big picture. Eleanor was too busy sneaking glances at me, and Cattleya just looked confused. Louise might have been able to figure it out, but then again she was still young, and probably more focused on doing her duty then what the consequences would be if she didn't. That kind of paranoia and reasoning would develop later, hopefully. The duke hardened his face. "Nonetheless, it is still too dangerous," he cast down his decision. "Regardless of what the princess or yourself desire, I will not allow it."

Louise closed her eyes and bowed her head. It might have looked deferential, but I could hear her teeth grinding, and see beneath the table where her fists were clenched. I felt a bit of sympathy for her. We hadn't exactly come here with high hopes, but the truth of the matter was Louise genuinely hoped for her family to accept her decision. It wasn't just her desire to serve the princess that was behind this wish. It would have meant that in her eyes Louise had finally graduated from a delicate and weak girl, the kind that couldn't accomplish anything for herself and could only rely on others, to a competent and worthy member of the family. It would have meant that they trusted her.

After all, even if they didn't approve her leaving, we were just going to break out and go anyway. That was pretty much a given.

"It disappoints me to hear you say that, duke," I answered politely using his title as freely as he had used mine. "If it is concern that I will not be able to protect your daughter in that situation that motivates this decision, then are you certain that there is no task that I could accomplish or test I could endure to change your position?" It works on divine entities; maybe it'll work on protective fathers.

The duke looked like even though he seemed to acknowledge my position as a Servant to be one suitable for conversing with him as freely as I have been, it still wasn't a high enough one to question his wisdom when it came to his daughter. He opened his mouth to give his final word on the matter.

"Yes, there is." I had to force myself not to blink in surprise. The duke didn't have that much self control. It hadn't been him who had answered. Both of us turned to the one who had.

"Karin?" the duke said, addressing his wife in surprise. The duchess sat with perfect calm and poise, the very picture of grace.

The duchess continued as though her husband hadn't spoken. "If you can earn my approval then we will allow Louise to serve in her chosen role," she said, speaking with the calm of the one whose decision was absolute. It appeared that the one wearing the pants in this family wasn't the duke at all. She just let him think he was.

Considering what I knew of her daughters that seemed to make entirely too much sense to me.

"And how can I earn your approval, duchess?" I asked politely.

"You must earn it in combat," she informed me.

Everyone present who heard her declaration except herself and I flinched simultaneously. Eleanor, who had been holding a fork and knife poised over her dish ground the silverware down hard enough to crack the plate. Cattleya whom had been taking a sip of what appeared to be coffee dropped it on her lap without noticing it. The duke's hand slipped, and his elbow entered the cold remains of the simulated invasion of Albion. Louise flat out fell out of her chair. One of the maids, who had been refilling a goblet didn't notice when the cup had finished filling and started overflowing. A butler who had been carrying a tray laden with some kind of cake dropped the platter.

I glanced at those surrounding me with a raised eyebrow. That… that was unusual. I turned back to the duchess. "That is acceptable. At what time and place?" I assumed that she would first change out of the expensive looking dress and into something more suitable for battle.

"Two hours hence, at the clearing behind the barrack's well," she informed me. I nodded my acceptance, and she stood with grace and poise. Without another word she walked away with a slow and dignified pace.

I turned back to Louise, who was still on the floor. "Master, I will need directions to the appointed location," I informed her politely. Still on the floor, she twitched. "Master," I tried again, contemplating whether or not I should nudge her with my foot. "Are you well? Did something you eat not settle properly with you?"

"Son," I turned to face the duke as he addressed me. I noticed that he wasn't using the title Servant anymore. However, it seemed like the diminutive title he had used instead wasn't out of malice. His face had gone very pale. "I know you only think it your duty to do so, but please, surrender this battle. It would be a shame for my daughter to lose an attendant as loyal as you."

"Lose an attendant?" I asked, not quite getting what he was trying to say.

Cattleya suddenly stood up. Clutching both hands in front of her chest she leveled wide pleading eyes at me. "Please, Mr. Emiya," she said, using my last name and a polite form of address. "It wouldn't be right for you to die so young! Please don't go!"

Okay. I'm definitely missing something here. I glanced at Eleanor to see if the trend would continue. "I-i-i-it w-w-would b-b-be better if you d-d-d-didn't go," the taller blond said, showing that it wasn't just Louise who stuttered when she was emotional enough.

"Master," I said with a sigh, "could you please explain this to me?"

Still on the ground Louise finally spoke. "When my mother was younger she was known as Karin of the 'Heavy Wind'," she said, her own voice quavering with fear. "She was the most powerful and feared captain of the Manticore Knights in all of Tristain history. Shirou," she gulped. "It might be better if you didn't go," she finally concluded, glancing down in shame.

"Did she ever blow up a mountain for getting in her way?" I asked, sighing. Alright, I get that she was probably a very powerful user, probably of the wind if her name was anything to judge by, but was it really that terrifying?

"No," Louise admitted. "But she did blow up an invading Germanian reconnaissance force of around five hundred." Louise shuddered. "And then she went looking for the rest of their battalion and blew them up too."

"Really?" I asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow. Was she making fun of me? Just because I was rightly wary of the Blue doesn't mean that I was going to put up with someone who had no idea what I was talking about making fun of me.

"It was in the spring, thirty two years ago," the duke spoke up, his voice quavering. "It was in defense of the Valliere territory. It was how I met her." He let loose a small sigh, one that sounded equal parts terrified and equal parts nostalgic.

"Strange," I murmured, deciding to take their warnings at face value. "But she had no combat presence…" I trailed off, suddenly freezing. "She had no combat presence," I said again, this time in realization as my eyes widened.

"Combat presence?" the duke asked, not familiar with the term. I responded, barely paying attention to him as my mind desperately raced at the revelation.

"The unconscious actions that a person takes when they're preparing for battle or confrontation," I murmured, and my hands began to tremble as I realized what it meant. "Even if it's nothing more than a twitch of the eye, or an adjustment of posture, everyone has them. Most people just don't realize what they're seeing or aren't trained to recognize them. But even when she made her challenge there was still nothing. That means…" the speed of my breath began to quicken.

"What does it mean?" Cattleya asked, looking concerned at my shaking and hyperventilation.

"It means that she spends every moment of every day constantly prepared for combat," I breathed out. "She's been doing it so long that it's become her natural state of being. I've only met four people whom ever achieved that level, and all of them were heroic spirits!" By the Root, if Karin the 'Heavy Wind' was as famous as the reactions of her family seemed to indicate, than she just might end up a heroic spirit herself in the end.

No one there but Louise understood just what the last term meant, and frankly I didn't care. My shaking began to increase.

"Shirou," Louise said, abandoning my title as well as she began to get worried about my reaction.

I couldn't stop myself any more. "She's the real deal," I whispered, and as though saying the words were enough to release my doubt I began to smile. It was a wild and savage smile, laced with anticipation. My hands were shaking with eagerness. "Master," I said at once, suddenly very eager for two hours to be gone. "Where is the clearing?" I demanded. Oh, how I wished for this battle. Even more than I had wanted the fight with Wardes, I wanted this battle.

*Scene Break*

The place where the test was to take place was surprisingly far away. Well, considering the regard everyone had for Karin's power, maybe not so surprisingly. I had left for it immediately and it had taken me a half hour at a fast pace for me to get there. Immediately upon arriving I began pacing the clearing, memorizing the layout. Every tree here could be the cover I needed to approach unnoticed, every rock the shelter I need to survive an attack, every gully a last ditch position to fall back to. Finally, after a half hour I had memorized it suitably, and seated myself in seiza position in the center of the clearing.

From there on I concentrated on taking deep calming breaths. Calm down. Focus. Every battle is fought a thousand times before the first blade is crossed. Every tactic has already been decided before the heat of battle, because if you tried in combat itself you'd just get burnt.

And so I waited.

I suppose my eagerness was the result of my own past. Louise wasn't the only one who occasionally felt she had something to prove, some invisible standard to live up to. Hers was her family. Mine was legends.

I had been raised peacefully, and was thus unprepared when I was initiated into the world of combat and battle. And when I finally came into those bloodstained fields, it was alongside the likes of which of my Saber Arturia Pendragon, or a Berserker Hercules, or Lancer Cu Chulainn. My first glimpses of swords in motion had been of those blades being wielded by masters, every stroke a masterpiece, every thrust a work of art. At the time, my only concern had been surviving the nightmare of enemies so much vaster then myself. My own attacks back then were the desperate strikes of a half trained child thrust into waters far too deep to even consider swimming in without a life jacket or those embarrassing arm floaties that parents stuck on their infants at the pool.

As time passed my own skills began to grow. I could first match my foes, and then I even found myself surpassing them. But at times I would find myself in the aftermath of my battle and think 'how inelegant'. I would think back to the great battles between heroes so skilled that their legends had spanned centuries, even millennia in some cases, and wonder how I could ever compare to that.

I could accomplish my goals. I could save lives, or protect my ideals, or seek that hill of swords that I awaited for. These days I could even protect my Master, emulating those titans I once bore witness to. But I could never go back there to that time and see how I would measure now, if I would even register as a mote in their eyes.

And so it was that on what I was sure was the precise moment that two hours had passed, when a great wind filled the clearing I waited in, my eyes opened with joy and anticipation.

Karin landed in the field before me, riding a manticore so large and ancient looking that it made even Bellerophon look docile and weak. If Karin ever made heroic spirit, if though coincidence or luck she was summoned to one of the many vast realities out there that still bore witness to the horrid Holy Grail War, then I knew without a doubt she would be a Rider.

We were alone in the field. Far away, at what I assumed everyone else assumed was a safe distance on the wall that circled the manor, I could make out many gathered figures. Reinforcing my eyes, I could see the rest of the Valliere family, but also servants, and probably guards. They had gathered together to see a legend in action once more. I doubted any one of them considered this battle would last long. I didn't care. Just so long as I had the opportunity to fight in it.

"You've come," Karin said to me, her voice every bit as calm and reserved as when she had addressed me at the dinner table the night before. I couldn't make out her expression. She had used the two hours of preparation to don what I was assuming was her old armor. A face mask covered her mouth and nose, leaving only her eyes exposed. Wrapped in steel that had been carefully preserved in the years since her retirement, gleaming in the midday sun, she cut an imposing figure. As she dismounted from the enormous beast she had entered in I took note of her weapons. One was a long lance, strapped to her saddle and most likely used in tandem with her mount. At her side was another weapon, the same unfamiliar looking sword/wand that Wardes had used. This one was far less ornate than Louise's dead ex-fiancé. It was as austere as the clothes she normally wore, a testament to its purpose of utility.

"Yes," I responded, rising from the seiza position in one smooth motion. The way of sitting with both feet underneath you was originally used by samurai so that they could rise and attack in one motion.

"I assume by now you've been informed as to my past?" she asked, sounding nearly conversational as she did so. No combat presence at all. She could be preparing to talk pleasantly with me, or she could be preparing to unleash a surprise attack that would kill me in one strike.

"I don't see its relevance," I admitted, acknowledging her history and dismissing it in the same stroke.

"It's relevance?" Karin asked, and I think I finally noticed an emotion in that voice. She sounded annoyed. "Do you think it nothing but exaggerations and rumors, intended to dissuade you from this test?"

"No," I admitted. "The only thing that matters is that I need to earn your permission for my Master to accomplish her goals. The only way to earn it is through combat with you. That is all that is relevant here." All my anticipation, all my worries, all my hopes had been set aside.

I am the bone of my sword. Steel is my body and fire is my blood.

Nothing else is important.

"Very well," Karin declared. I think I detected another emotion there. Satisfaction I think. She struck the manticore once across its flank, and the enormous beast rose into the air with a gust of wind from its mighty wings.

I lifted my hand and placed it on Derflinger. Beneath the sleeves I still wore, out of sight, the runes of Gandalfr began to glow.

It was a good thing I had. With no other words, with no other warnings, and with barely a movement, Karin attacked.

I had been in battle before. Many, many battles. I'd seen many styles of fighting. Some liked to test their opponent with light attacks. Others would hold back and wait to see how their opponents would act before trying anything. Karin, Karin appeared to favor the overwhelming initial first strike.

Between one moment and the next, with her hand doing nothing more than brushing against the hilt of her wand she threw a typhoon at me. By now I was familiar enough to recognize and categorize the strength of spells in this world. There are simply limits to the outer capabilities of what a caster can achieve depending on the number of elements they combine. But beyond that, there are limits on the caster themselves. They shape their magic through willpower. The greater the willpower the more elements they can combine. However, will can be sapped. It was the reason this place still used gold as a currency. A square class earth mage was able to form gold, but the spell required so much effort that it was nearly impossible to use it twice within a month long period. Moreover, it was hard to make any reasonable amount of gold, and thus currency still mattered here. It's because of that so many combatants and mages here tended to favor using smaller dot or line class spells for combat. They assumed exponentially less will then the higher triangle and square class magic. The power of the spell also depended on the ability of the caster. A square class mage was just better at handling their element, so if they and a dot class mage were both to cast the same spell the square class mage's magic would most likely be three or four times stronger than the dot class mage's.

The wall of air that Karin unleashed upon me had to be square class magic. I'd seen Tabitha in the past mix water and air together with extra air to unleash her own ice storms, but Karin didn't need anything corrupting the purity of her four part air elemental magic to make it devastating. The skill she wielded her magic with was so great that it the wall of writhing fury coming at me at speeds that seemed to fast to be real was comparable to the sheer power that Henrietta's hexagonal, six element, magic had bore.

I was so glad I had prepared for this.

Trace on.

"Rho Aias!" I shouted, once more calling forth the seven petal shield to defend me. The storm broke against it, and rather than start to erode at the shield instead flowed around it like water. I was caught in the shelter of my defense with the storm raging past me, deafening me to all else. I narrowed my eyes, refusing to close them as I struggled to perceive my enemies position. It took mages a certain amount of time to prepare a spell, and I was counting on that time for my counter attack. Casting square class magic would drain her too, and I would have a decent amount of time before she could again cast at this level…

It was only thanks to me keeping my eyes open despite the blinding wind tugging at them that I saw the second attack.

It lanced through the hurricane, and despite the obstructing wind it still stood out. It was a whirling vortex of a cyclone so compressed it looked like it was nothing more than a javelin. A moment after I identified it, it struck Rho Aias.

And in the instant it struck, it penetrated the first petal. There was no delay between its impact and the destruction of the first layer of one of the most powerful defensive phantasms in existence.

That's impossible! At the very least it would have taken two or three seconds to pierce its way through.

While I had that realization, it penetrated the second layer.

It's still continuing its velocity. That means that the spell despite its size must be upper class. Triangle level at the least, possibly even square.

The third layer fell.

That meant that Karin had simultaneously cast two square level magics. Even if it wasn't simultaneous, it was close enough to render the difference moot.

The fourth layer fell.

It might be two separate attacks but the combination essentially made this assault an eight layer spell. This was Root be damned octagonal level magic!

The fifth layer fell.

Blue's tits! Stop sitting around gawking and act!

As the sixth layer fell, I let loose a strangled cry. It was less a spell and more a desperate 'kia', the technique most martial arts rely on. It involved releasing all the air in the body, causing muscles to contract and tighten as you did so. Simultaneously, I flooded od into the failing Rho Aias, rendering it a broken phantasm, while drawing Derflinger desperately and placing it between my body and my immanent impaling.

There's a reason I don't break Rho Aias often. As a defensive phantasm it simply operates better in its natural state. It can block multiple attacks, being a wide spread defense, and I've simply never come across anything that was capable of wiping it out completely. Breaking it takes all of its power, and instead of making it a steady and dependable defensive structure makes it into a single reactive layer.

In other words it explodes outwards in an effort to counter the power behind whatever is trying to push inwards.

I barely made it with the next part of my defense. The broken Rho Aias exploded, effectively countering the hurricane wind, reducing it drastically. The javelin however was merely slowed down. However diminished it was it still had power behind it. I flooded my body and my clothes desperately with magic, running myself dangerously close to being over flowed as I reinforced myself, just as the javelin of wind struck Derflinger.

I let the blade get forced backwards, setting my shoulder flush against it directly behind where the javelin had impacted. If I tried to just hold the blade by its handle, it'd be torn from my grip. If I tried to support the other end of the blade, my sword would bend and snap. Instead of using it to block, I had to use my shoulder to block, and the blade to keep my shoulder from being pierced through.

Consequentially, when the javelin hit it might have lost its piercing strength, but its kinetic strength was undiminished.

Derflinger shrieked, partially the voice of the sentience of the blade, partially the stress the steel was going through. My body, braced as it was, was forced backwards, my feet dragging through the soil and tracing a line through the turf as I was forced backwards. My sword drank deeply of the magic, gradually diminishing it, but the spell was just too strong for it to be dispelled all at once.

I slammed against a tree on the opposite end of the clearing, and was pinned there, for a handful of moments until Derflinger finally managed to finish eating the spell.

I fell to my feet shakily from where I had been stuck against the tree, maintaining my balance as I stood there, staring at the figure of Karin who hadn't moved an inch the entire attack.

Neither one of us moved. We both just stood there staring at the other for several long moments.

"You broke Rho Aias," I declared eventually, my voice sounding shell shocked even to my ears.

"You weathered my attack, unharmed," Karin accused back. I could definitely hear an emotion this time: surprise.

"That," I began, stopping to swallow a dry lump in my throat, my body beginning to shake again. I finally couldn't stop myself. "That was amazing!" I gushed like a little school boy.

"Ah?" Karin said, apparently still trying to decide how to react to something she had found as equally impossible as I had.

"What was that? Duel casting un-incanted simultaneous square class magic?" I rattled out, staring at her with wide and admiring eyes. "I've never even heard of something like that! It should be impossible!"

"Well," she admitted, sounding unsure of herself. She reached up and unhooked the face mask, letting me see her face for the first time this battle. Her eyes were also wide, and it looked like she was barely keeping her own questions from rushing forth. "Yes, that was what I did," she admitted awkwardly. She's probably never had anyone live long enough to see through her attack, and was now faced with someone other than her putting it into words.

"And that lance," I raved, dropping Derflinger to my side as my other hand began to gesticulate. "I've seen Rho Aias stop attacks that can level castles, and you destroyed it in seconds! That kind of penetrating power," I paused, eying her in wonder. "You had multiple discreet counter rotations in there, didn't you? The only way you could possibly get that kind of result was if at least three of the elements were spinning in opposite directions in there. Was the fourth element used as the container of the attack in order to function as a delivery system?" I demanded, eager to know just how the hell she had done something so utterly unbelievable.

"Four rotations," she corrected me, finally beginning to collect herself as well. "Initially I had designed it to be a triangle class spell working like you presumed, but the more I worked with it the more I refined it," she informed me, warming up to my obvious admiration. Now it was her turn. She definitely wasn't as obviously excited as I was by the revelation, but her own lips were beginning to quirk the tiniest bit. She definitely didn't have much experience with smiling. Or if she had, it had been a while. "How about you? I thought you were simply a master of elemental composition, but it's more than that isn't it? You not only created a shield, but empowered it specifically. Some kind of recreation effect, including any enchanting or magical aspects of what it is you make?"

I grinned despite myself. "I told you the skills of my homeland were different. Yes, my abilities resolve around near perfect recreation of magical artifacts. Weapons specifically, but I can manage defensive items at a much reduced effect."

Her pose began to relax, and she put one hand on her chin her eyes narrowing. "It was more than that. Despite the initial success, towards the end you managed a feat to drastically reduce both my assaults simultaneously." Her eyes widened a bit as she came to a conclusion. "An overflow technique! You were able to discretely manipulate the magic even after casting!" Her eyes narrowed as she began to contemplate the implications of her own statement. "You were able to manage the strength of your spells mid casting, even after casting!" she declared, definite excitement in her voice as she puzzled out my technique almost instantly. "Brilliant!" she declared, sounding almost as proud as if she had come up with it herself. She regarded me carefully. "More than that, you didn't take any damage even after your primary defense was sacrificed and you were forced across the clearing. A personal enhancement skill?"

"Yes, though it's fairly limited when it comes to my body," I admitted, completely unable to bring myself to hold anything back. This enemy, this perfect embodiment of the warrior ideal deserved nothing else. "Generally I prefer rougher clothing as the target," I gestured at my own wool, cotton, and denim ensemble. "It would be exponentially more powerful with something sturdier like metal, but my own style resolves around flexibility scenario specific weaponry."

"Ouch," Derflinger finally managed to get out, though both of us ignored him.

"Oh?" Karin said, and then her lips quirked again in what was definitely a smile this time. "And should you be telling me this? We haven't finished our duel yet, after all."

"Oh, I'll lose," I admit shamelessly. She blinked at that. "You've effectively overcome the weakness window that I was relying on, and I've no doubt that you can chain multiple high elemental magics together flawlessly. Getting close enough to you to be able to strike is nearly impossible at my current level. I have long range options available, but they simply take too much time for me to prepare, and I doubt you're the kind who allows an opponent to get off an attack just so you can counter it and mock them afterwards. My only possible scenario for winning is a purely lucky strike at the moment, and you knowing my abilities won't affect that at all." I shrugged. "I just wanted the opportunity to compliment you on your technique before we finished this." Holding Derflinger in my hand I stepped forward back into the clearing, eyes peeled and breath coming in short excited pants. I doubt she'd kill me right off. My experiences in the past had tossed me several unique ways for me to protect and heal myself, and the water mages of this world would be able to assist my healing process. I resolved to attempt to get at least one wounding strike in before I fell.

Karin cocked her head at me, and then finally the smile on her face achieved a length that most people would consider normal.

"Enough," she declared, removing her hand from the hilt of her wand. I paused, not sure what she was getting at. "Do you know what the motto of the Manticore Knights was during my commanding?" I shook my head, watching her carefully. She didn't seem like the type to talk while disguising an attack, but I didn't see where she was going with this conversation so I maintained my guard. "It was 'Rule of Steel'. What I despised the most of my subordinates was lack of discipline. I am more than satisfied with what I've seen here today. If I had more subordinates such as yourself during my captaincy I might not have left the corps in the first place," she declared.

I frowned, disappointed. "Oh. I see."

My tone brought a small frown to her face, bringing her back to her more austere persona. "You see? Is my judgment not satisfactory for you?" she sounded like me admitting that would probably undo all my efforts so far.

"That's not it," I admitted desperately. "It's just," I flushed, "after having witnessed something so magnificent as that attack I can't help but feel unsatisfied that I won't have the opportunity to show you anything that can compare," I admitted sheepishly.

I knew I was being a bit childish, but it was like my youth all over again. I still just couldn't compare to the giants around me.

Karin cocked her head to me, one of the most emotive expressions that I'd seen her use so far, and then brought a hand up to mouth. "Fufufufu," she said. It was like she was trying to giggle, but couldn't quite make it unrestrained enough. This woman just had too much steel in her to be that relaxed. "I'd almost forgotten what it was like, a young man's pride," she informed me, sounding partially condescending, but mostly amused at my juvenile confession. When she brought her hand down, she was still smiling slightly. "Very well," she brought her mask back up, fastening it in its place. "By all means, make your attack."

The two of us stood there, facing each other across the open field. Directly behind me lay a great deal of devastated woodland, a testament of Karin's attack's devastation carved into the world around us. A dramatic breeze whirled past us.

"Well," Karin asked, sounding slightly impatient. "Will you come?"

"Ah," I admitted, flushing sheepishly again. "I'm trying to decide which one would be suitably dramatic." An eyebrow rose, one of the features on Karin's face that wasn't obscured. "I wanted to show you something that would be completely unique to what you've probably seen," I admitted embarrassedly, "and possibly put on a good show for my Master as well." A second eyebrow rose and I hurried to explain myself. "Louise is a good girl, and she has a lot of potential. It's just that she's a little unconfident in her abilities. I rarely get an opportunity where I can justify showing some of my more exotic skills, and if she sees me doing something dramatic it might make her feel more safe when we head to the battle fields."

Both of Karin's eyebrows settled. "You are a good Servant," she told me, and I thought I detected warmth there for a second. "Whenever you are ready, come," she told me, and waited.

I took a deep breath. I think I had the perfect thing for this situation.

Trace on.

"I am the bone of my sword," I whispered, the breeze picking up as I did so. "Steel is my body, and fire is my blood."

In a half second Kanshou and Bakuya both appeared in my hands. Without another word, both my arms flung outwards, and the blades launched away from me, going sideways.

Karin gave me another raised eyebrow, before the other shot up in surprise. She sprung backwards as both blades curved through the air to converge where she had been standing only moments ago.

Kanshou and Bakuya. These two blades had been forged in ancient china by a husband and wife team of blacksmiths. I have no idea where Archer, the counter guardian spirit Emiya, my twisted future self, had gotten them from. What I did know was that just as the smiths had been connected in life, so two were the blades. They called to each other like the opposite ends of a magnet. When I had thrown them to the sides, the pull they both enacted on the other had brought them together again, right where Karin had been standing. Even as they missed their target, the two blades missed each other as well, spinning wildly away to arc backwards again. Once the two were launched the only force that could change their paths was each sword's opposite.

Now for the second part.

It had taken me a long while to learn how to do it, but I traced two more swords. Now, with the additional pull from their identical twins, the path the two were traveling became wilder. I launched the next two blades as well, and all four of them converged on the startled Karin.

This was something she had never seen before. I've little doubt that she had come across fire and earth and wind and water of all kinds in her time. She was just too skilled not to. But blades, blades that flew in accordance to rules she had no knowledge of, which arched and twisted and sought her no matter what she did? Yeah, this was something unreal to her.

As I traced the last two copies of the swords into my hand I murmured softly, "Spirit and technique, flawless and firm. Strength that pierce the mountains. Sword that split the river. Fame reaching the imperial villa. We cannot embrace heaven together."

I crossed both the swords behind me, and flooded them, breaking them. I charged towards Karin, using subtle movements of the two blades in my hands to direct the four in the air. As they flooded with od Kanshou and Bakua expanded. The spread till they were twice their original sizes, but it was an imperfect expansion. As they grew they cracked and shattered, splintering endlessly till they resembled nothing more than a pair of black and white wings behind me with feathers of broken steel.

Karin, who had been altering her attention between four flying swords and myself, widened her eyes. In one smooth motion she pulled both her sword wand.

I screamed as I struck. "Crane Wing Three Realm!"

The blades in my hand shattered as they came down on Louise's mother. The feather like fragments as a one flew, in the paths of their strikes. Again the clearing saw a great wind. Unlike Karin's 'Heavy Wind', this one was a 'Razor Wind'. Each fragment of the broken blades was a separate projectile attack, screeching through the air and piercing whatever they found in their path. The four blades I had thrown earlier hemmed her in, leaving her no safe exit.

An explosion rocked the clearing, and a cloud of dirt billowed away from us, mushrooming up into the air as it did so.

When it cleared it did so to reveal myself, empty handed. A crater from where the four thrown blades had collided and detonated when they had touched their polar opposites was around us. Stretching in front of me in the path of the two strikes I had made was a devastated stretch of shredded earth and plant life.

Except for the woman standing in front of me. She had one arm up, defending her face. The other had her wand sword drawn and pressed against my stomach. A whirl of whispering air surrounded her. Despite the armor of wind she had apparently conjured, her mundane armor beneath was no longer completely pristine. It had two long rows of scratches describing an 'x' upon her front.

"And what would you do now, Shirou?" she asked me, once more ignoring my title but this time speaking my name with something that could almost be respect.

I glanced down to where the blade was poking me. If she unleashed a spell now with the same lethal quickness as she had earlier I would be torn in too. Despite that, I wasn't worried. She had spoken with curiosity. Curiosity ladened with excitement. She wasn't threatening. She was going over in her head the duel we might have had. She was trying to imagine what other skills I might have concealed, what other blades I might be able to reproduce.

"I have the ability to form my blades beneath my skin," I told her. "It'd hurt like hell and take forever to heal, but I'm pretty sure I'd be able to get another strike in before you penetrated completely."

We stared at each other. I knew that she could cast in a heartbeat, ripping me in two. But she also knew my empty hands could hold new steel in the same beat of time, and both my empty hands were aimed at the point where the new mars in her armor crossed, where it was at its weakest.

"Fufufufu," she finally declared, once more sounding like she was attempting to giggle and couldn't quite remember how. My own response was a chuckle so soft it was nothing more than my chest shaking rhythmically. We both stood up. The beating of vast wings echoed through the clearing as Karin's great manticore once more descended, knowing the battle was done, reading its master with the same skill I'd learned to read my own.

"Come along," she said to me as she mounted. "You may ride with me back to the manor proper."

The manticore growled slightly, shifting beneath me in an ominous manner as I carefully sat behind Karin the 'Heavy Wind'. I got the feeling there weren't many who had the opportunity to sit where I was sitting. As its wings began to beat heavily, Karin turned backwards, allowing her to see my face behind her.

"Tell me, Shirou," she began, still using my first name rather than my title. "Have you met either of my other daughters properly yet? They're both single and of marriageable age," she began her voice once more austere.

I tried desperately not to think about Eleanor. Don't think about it. Don't think about it. Don't think about it.

*Scene Break*

_It took Louise a very long time to fall asleep that night. _

_ Her Servant had fought her mother. Her Servant had fought her mother, and was still alive. Her Servant had fought her mother, was still alive, and had managed to scratch her mother's armor. Her Servant had fought her mother, was still alive, had scratched her mother's armor, and now her mother had begun mentioning marriage._

_ Not to her personally. Louise was very happy about that. After the Wardes fiasco, she just didn't see herself settling down anytime soon. And not to Eleanor either. That was good. That was very good. Not only would it increase her elder sisters life time considerably, considering just how much Shirou seemed to dislike her, but if the two of them were together they might end up getting along. Eleanor was scary. Shirou, when pressed to far, was even scarier. She didn't want to contemplate what the two of them could do to her if they ever ended up together and in agreement. Instead, Louise's mother had begun mentioning to her father how they were unlikely to find a noble willing to marry Cattleya, due mostly to her second eldest sister's congenital poor health. They wouldn't be able to arrange a marriage according to her station most likely, but to use their second daughter to bring in a devastatingly competent unranked noble on the other hand?_

_ Louise had never thought she'd see the day, but Louise's mother had really taken a shine to her Servant._

_ The tiny pink haired girl was actually strangely comfortable with the idea, she admitted to herself. She already thought of her Servant like a strange bloodthirsty older brother. If he were to actually take up that role, than well, that would be fine._

_ Still, that night as she laid in her real elder siblings arms, she thought back to the battle between her Servant and her mother._

_ She had known that he was strong. She had just never actually entertained the idea that he was THAT strong. To have survived against her, to have earned her respect in battle? Even one as polite and lacking in malice as what she had witnessed? As she had watched from the wall top, she had come to the realization that even when standing beside her father, no stranger to combat, and all the guards, who made their livelihood by being combat ready, she had been the only one to see that fight for what it really was. There had been no murder meant in the blows exchanged, just tests._

_ Tests Shirou had passed. And soon she would be going to war._

_ After all the dreams she had, all the horrors and bloodshed and battle and brutality she had witnessed in her slumber, she didn't know what to expect. She was prepared. She had learned great magic, experimented with it, made it her own. She had trained, preparing her body for every eventuality she could. And she had witnessed things far beyond someone her age should have. _

_ As Louise lay in her sister's arm, she tried not to shiver. She tried not to acknowledge the strange chill running through her. It was not a premonition. It was not. People can't know the future. _

_ She would go to Albion, together with her Servant. And she'd return triumphant alongside him as well._

_ That night, when she finally fell asleep, Louise dreamed of swords and battle._

_ She watched carefully. She was about to see battle of her own after all. Every little bit counted._


	14. Promised Blades: The Fourteenth night

The Hill of Swords: The Fourteenth night

Author's note: And thus closes the second arc of The Hill of Swords. I'll probably be going back tomorrow to make a few minor edits to the previous chapters, so if you see this story back at the top of the updated list but it still only has 14 chapters, that's why.

A few minor notes. First off, I've found my review list flooded with questions and concerns regarding Rho Aias. My first response to this, is pride. I'm glad that I've managed to get so many people so invested in my story that they're willing to take the time to comment on the parts that catch their eyes. I thought I'd write a bit of an explanation behind my intentions of that scene. I was trying to point out the technical skill of Karin in it. The part where I was talking about 'multiple discrete counter rotations' was my justification of the shield falling so fast. I was trying to imply that Karin had set a lance of wind screwing like a drill, than wrapped that lance with another rotational air element going in the other direction, and done that four times total. The implied result was that her attack literally chewed its way through the shield, instead of just trying to pierce it like a normal attack would. I admit, that part in the game where Lancer and Archer were having their face off I was scrolling through pretty fast, eager to see what happened so I might have missed some of the details. What do you guys think? Would it have been enough?

Beyond that, now for the notes on this chapter. I decided to start it right towards the end of the campaign, and leave the actual events between Louise and Shirou joining to be explained briefly through narration. That has more to do with the fact that, well, I kind of think it would be boring to have to write what would amount to two months worth of bickering with the brass and inane army life. I decided to just jump forward to the important part instead. Does anyone think that diminishes the effect, or are they just happy I got to where the good stuff was?

Also, I hope this chapter helps explain some of the other major concerns most people have. Reviewers seemed to be split into two camps. Those who think Shirou is too powerful, and those who think Shirou isn't powerful enough.

For the too powerful camp, I've always saw Shirou more as being the ultimate handy man rather than being some kind of towering titan of awesomeness. It's not that he's super powerful, its just that he almost always has precisely the right tool to make the job easy. I tried to point out earlier in the work that Shirou has always known what his major weakness was: sheer numbers, or an enemy that is just skilled enough to overcome whichever advantageous weapon he was using.

For those who are wondering why he seems so weak and isn't spamming some of the truly astounding weapons he has, well, it's because he's just not strong enough to use them yet. Remember how Saber was described as having an incredibly high mana capacity in the game? Well, one use of Excalibur against Rider, and she was on her last leg. Simply put, some of the weapons just are out of his reach right now. He might be able to make them, and even use them once, but he's going to be redlining himself in his circuits if he does so, and he's just to cautious to let himself be that weak in front of a foe. That's why just about every weapon I've had him trace so far was something with an inherent effect rather than an activated one.

For any of you looking for soundtrack recommendations, I advise two songs in particular for this one. The first is the amazing "Emiya", quite possibly one of the most addicting to listen to battle songs of all time. The other is "Yume no Owari". Those of you who recognize those two titles will know the appropriate places to listen to them.

And as always, if there's something you hate, point it out to me, respectfully of course, and I'll see what I can do about it. If there's something you love, just let me know as well for the heck of it.

Now, On with the story.

*Story Start*

I listened carefully as the young noble in front of me carefully outlined his plan. It was a well reasoned, very detailed, and actually quite innovative. When he finished he turned and addressed my Master where she sat in front of me. "Very well then, you will be leaving tomorrow."

From where I was standing at my Master's back I answered for her. "Refused."

"Ah?" the young man said, looking like he didn't quite understand what I meant.

"I said that this mission is refused," I explained for him dryly. His brow knit.

"Now listen here guard," he began, drawing himself upright. He was dressed in immaculate linen, a uniform that had been well tailored to look both regal and functional. "I will not have a lowly swordsman thinking that they can speak to I Mathew Penterdon, the son of General Penterdon of the third air force, in such an insolent manner. Now depart and prepare yourself for your mission," he ordered me imperiously. I quirked an eyebrow at him, studying him curiously.

"I see. Tell me, when you got your appointment, did it happen to come from someone who was historically an enemy of your family? Maybe someone with a political agenda? Possibly someone who wouldn't be the least bit saddened, and would probably end up coming out ahead in some way if you were to die?" I asked, cocking my head curiously. The strange line of questioning seemed to confuse the young noble, this Mathew Penterdon.

"Ah," he trailed off, his eyes darting to the side in apparent thought, before shaking his head briefly. "I don't see how any of that is relevant!" he declared. I gave him a wry smile.

"Then they obviously haven't told you what I did to your predecessor when he attempted to circumvent the chain of command and issue unauthorized commands to my Master in an effort to further his career, and then tried to coerce her into it when she refused him." The smile on my face grew slightly in fond remembrance. "The one who appointed you probably thought I'd do it again and they could get rid of you while keeping their hands clean," I explained to him.

Mathew was a smart enough young man. He glanced to the side, looking at the faces of some of the assembled generals to whom he had been presenting his plan. A few of them refused to meet his gaze. A few others coughed nervously, and refused to meet mine. Mathew's eyes widened as his eyes darted back to me, and he suddenly looked a bit more nervous.

"Don't worry," I assured him. "You're not an incompetent ass like he was. It's just that your plan hasn't taken several key points into account."

"And those are?" he asked, not quite stammering, but sounding like he might be pretty close to it at the moment.

"First off, the Dragon's Raiment," I told him, ticking a finger on my hand. "It's not an all powerful artifact. It has limits to the speed which it can move. I'm pleased to note that you made adjustments to your plan according to rumor, but you were over generous. It cannot safely handle those kinds of speeds. Beyond that, it requires a very specific kind of fuel to work, a fuel which we have an extremely limited supply of," I explained. His widened eyes shrank down to a more normal size as he absorbed the information. The fact that was I calmly explaining rather than attacking probably helped ease his nervousness.

"Secondly, you're not taking in to account the purpose of my Master's place as a trump card. The more she is used in this campaign, the more the enemy will be able to discern her abilities. The more they know, the better they can prepare. Yes, this would advance the position of a small portion of the army, but then what? How much intelligence will they gather from it? How long till they begin to recognize the Raiment's approach, and know that they only have to destroy it to keep us away?" Mathew bowed his head, seeing my point. I continued regardless. "Plus there is my Master herself to consider. How much will power does each of her experimental spells use?" That was the cover Henrietta had assigned. Officially speaking Louise was a member of an experimental magic research initiative known as 'the Zero Organization'. The Dragon Raiment, my Zero fighter, was supposedly the result of that research, as were the supposed 'experimental' spells Louise used. "How many times can she cast a spell before she would require a significant rest to recover? Is it better to use it to achieve what would take nothing more than a few platoons, or would it best to save it for the final assault on Londinium, or perhaps as defensive measure in case the enemy out maneuvers your forces?"

"Now see here, boy," one of the older members of the staff spoke up harshly not liking the implication that his forces might be outmaneuvered. I glanced at the speaker. The Marquis of Handenburg was a Germanian general that led his countries contribution to the war effort. He was hot headed, burning with every bit as much passion as the only other Germanian I knew personally, Kirche. Unfortunately his passion lent itself more towards violence than the red headed school girl. When the campaign had begun two months ago he had learned that Louise and powerful options available to her that he didn't he had instantly planned a high speed assault that relied on my Master leading the charge into every battle between the port town of Rosais and the capital of Albion, Londinium.

He hadn't taken kindly to me vetoing his suicide run instantly. Especially when it was determined that the only person in this camp whose authority I would acknowledge was my Master, and since Louise was a court lady in the employ of Henrietta directly, they couldn't just order her to get me to shut up.

"Furthermore," I continued, ignoring the angry Germanian. "There is my Master to consider directly. She is still a young girl, and not used to the rigors of military life. Though she has been adapting, she is still exhausted. It would do no good to have a trump card that is simply too sick from being worked too hard to be used."

"And what proof do you have that she is close to such a state?" This time it was the Chief of Staff Wimpfenn who interrupted. Wimpfenn's position was a figure head, and everyone but him knew it. The only reason he had been granted such a pretentious title was so that he could be lured in to participating with the war more enthusiastically. His contribution was largely financial and political.

"Because she's been asleep since she sat down," I pointed out dryly. Many of the generals looked to confirm what I had called to their attention, and they saw that yes, the little pink haired girl was asleep with her eyes open in her chair. They hadn't even bothered to notice.

That was quickly becoming the routine of this campaign. Louise's void magic was instantly recognized for its power. It was through a new spell she had managed to develop, 'Illusion', that we had been able to land uncontested and without a single casualty at the port of Rosais in the first place. That single act had already earned her worth more over than any other participant in the war so far. The problem came in the fact that once her power had been proven, it had drawn the hungry eye of every general in the war. The unfortunate aspect was that in their eyes Louise was no longer a person. She was a tool. A tool that they wanted to use till it snapped in their hands.

Their problem with me was that I wouldn't let them, they didn't have the authority to overrule me, and I was more than capable of killing off any one of them without consequence or hesitation if they tried to push it. A fact I had to demonstrate three times so far.

"What is your opinion on when the girl will be capable of returning to duties?" the Supreme Commander General de Poitiers asked me, his voice polite. Of all of the old men gathered in this room, he was the least contemptible of them. He at least made minimal effort to hide his distaste for Louise as a person, and was too politically savvy to make any obvert attempts to undermine my authority through means like assigning me a junior liaison officer in an effort to distract me long enough for him to take advantage of Louise in my absence. That had been the marquis attempt.

De Poitiers was dangerous to my Master in a different fashion. He was a methodical general, neither particularly outstanding not exceptionally incompetent. He was actually the perfect man for the campaign, carefully planning each move, refraining from dangerous gambits, and adhering to established military doctrine. The problem was that his intentions were all politically oriented. If he won this war, he stood for promotion to field marshal of Tristain's forces. And with that in mind he had no problem sacrificing everyone here to ensure his victory. He was also the only one here beside myself and Louise that knew just what Louise's elemental affinity was.

"No sooner than the end of the upcoming festival, the Silver Pentecost," I declared firmly. Naturally, a general roar of disapproval swept the officials. It was enough to jerk Louise awake, and she discreetly began to glance around trying to figure out just what was happening without revealing that she had missed anything.

"Preposterous! What makes you think that you can tell us, the generals of this army when we can and cannot use our troops?" That was Handenburg again. I waited patiently till the generals stopped murmuring. This took quite a bit of time. In fact, until de Poitiers spoke up, it looked like they wouldn't shut up at all.

This was why I hated getting involved in wars. Old men talking, young men dying.

"First of all, hasn't an official cease fire been agreed upon for the duration of the Silver Pentecost in the first place?" I pointed out the obvious to begin with. This was less a matter of them finding my finding my suggestion preposterous, and more them finding me giving a suggestion preposterous. "Unless it is the army's intention to violate the truce, then I think the time frame is more than reasonable." My voice was so pleasant and benign and reasonable that butter wouldn't melt in my mouth. "Second of all, she is not your troop. She is under the direct command of the princess herself. She is here contributing at her own volunteering and at the request of your liege." I smiled peacefully at them. "And third of all if you try to overrule my decision when it comes to the safety of my Master, then I will regard you as a threat to her and run four foot of sharpened steel down your throat and leave you impaled where you sit." This was delivered in the same cheerful tone of voice. The room suddenly had a great deal less talking going on in it.

Mathew gawked at my casual declaration of intent, and then turned to the generals to protest my obvious insubordination. Even as he opened his mouth, he noticed that several of the generals were looking at him and turning a little green around the cheeks. He shut his mouth, and I had a suspicion he had realized what had happened to his predecessor.

Louise sighed in her chair. She might not quite know what was going on seeing that she had been partaking of some hard earned rest a few moments ago, but nonetheless she spoke. "Shirou, stop threatening to kill the generals." The order was given in a long suffering tone. It was one she had to repeat on more than one occasion so far.

"I keep trying, Master, but it's just so hard," I muttered. I eyed Mathew, who looked very unnerved at the moment. "You appear to be a great deal more competent than the one whom you inherited your position from. Come see me tomorrow, and we can go over your plan in greater detail." He swallowed, uncertain if this was a welcoming sign from me, or a signal that his own doom was eminent. "Relax. You show a great deal of promise. It'll just be an informal exercise so that you can become more familiar with our capabilities. Then at least you'll be able to give practical recommendations at the meetings that we are 'forgotten to be invited to'," I drawled. Strangely enough, that didn't seem to reassure the young man at all.

*Scene Break*

"This isn't at all how I thought it would be," Louise admitted to me, sounding exhausted. I didn't blame her. She was exhausted.

"What did you think it would be, Louise?" I asked her gently, pouring her a cup of tea. The two of us had retired for the evening, returning to our lodging in the city of Saxe-Gotha. The town was an important midway point in the campaign. It had a straight road leading all the way directly to the city of Londinium. So far the Albion army had been playing a defensive game. After Louise, using me and the Zero fighter as a delivery system had managed to simulate an attacking fleet through the use of the latest nugget delivered to her via the Founder's Prayer Book she had made her first vital contribution to the campaign and allowed the invading army to land unmolested the only response the opposing army had given was withdraw to a safe point. They were holed up tight, not reacting to us all, and I had to admit it was making me nervous.

Sadly, I was apparently the only one whom found the action suspicious. It had been the initial plan for Tristain-Germainian forces to meet their enemy head on at an earlier point in time, using Louise as a trump to emerge victorious and then finish conquering the land at their leisure. Afterwards the most strenuous thing they had planned for was arguing over how to divide up the new territory. Since the enemy hadn't engaged them in a futile battle, they were now planning to lay siege to the capital and finish the war that way.

My observations that they could potentially be allowing us to advance to a suitable position for them to lay a trap for us and turn the tides was continuously ignored as the uneducated opinion of a backwater iron swinger.

Even with just a high school education I probably ranked as the most widely and well educated person on this giant floating landmass. Nonetheless, it didn't particularly matter to me if this campaign succeeded or failed. Rather than try to force my opinion down their throats, I had simply began drawing up contingency plans for evacuating my Master if the need ever arose.

"I don't know," Louise admitted, sipping her tea and relaxing for the first time that day. "I thought there would be arrows and magic flying about, and blood being spilled. I thought I'd be crawling over dead bodies and fighting for my life, before finally emerging tired and triumphant surrounded by your discarded swords." She sounded embarrassed at her expectations. I had to give her credit. Most people think war would be a bloodless effortless victory. Nothing more dangerous than a stroll in the park. Louise's explanations went far the other direction, though her inevitable victory being predicted was typical with her naivety.

"That's the kind of conflict I'm more used to myself," I admit, feeling a stab of guilt that she would envision it such. I didn't have to wonder where she got those kinds of expectations from. Root damn the dream cycle and what it's done to her. "With smaller campaigns it's much more intimate and intense. You see the enemy face to face, and once the battle is over then that's it, time to divide up the loot and go your separate ways. War," I waved my own cup, grimacing as I did so. "That's something different. War is two fifths preparation, managing supplies, digging latrines, making sure the army is well rested enough. Then it's one part boredom, waiting for the enemy to finally show up. Then it's one part frenzied action and battle. The last part is either accepting or giving surrender." I shrugged cynically. "And it's entirely soaked with the mindless politicking required with managing such a large number of differently minded people."

"I think I'd like your way better," Louise sighed slumping down in her seat. She hadn't been handling the other parts of army life that well either. There simply were no elaborate carriages here, and animals for riding were mostly tapped for military purposes, so she had ended up having to walk a great deal more than she'd ever had in her life since she arrived at this floating island. More than that, for a girl who was used to lavish five course dinners and carefully met dietary needs the sometimes short rations and coarse food she'd been exposed to hadn't been gentle to her either. I had shamelessly and relentlessly begged, borrowed, stole, and coerced every supply I could in order to circumvent the final peril of war: sickness. With so many people pressed into one place, and often at the expense of personal hygiene, illness frequently ran rampant through the ranks. Generally it wasn't anything too serious, just an annoying cough or phlegm throat. But if you weren't careful than otherwise simple infections could become life threatening, especially combined with improper nutrition as well.

Honestly, it could have been a lot worse than it was. As a lady of the court, Louise was afforded a great deal more privacy and better shelter than some out there. Even now, we had an entire room to ourselves in a reasonably sized inn in the conquered city we were staging in. Before that we had a decent tent, and moved several paces behind the army proper. By the time we arrived at the next forward station shelter would already be set up for us.

In the end it was simply the change in lifestyle combined with the personal effort that Louise was putting into this war that was catching up with her. She insisted on knowing all the major initiatives and objectives, on sitting in on the review boards and strategy sessions. She was shouldering the responsibilities of an actual commander instead of just a fancy weapon waiting in it's sheathe to be drawn. She was learning a lot, but the demanding nature of what she was learning was proving too much for her fragile and unprepared body. If it hadn't been for all the training she had forced herself through with me I don't think she'd have been able to handle it.

"So do I," I agreed with her, sipping my own tea. "Louise," I said to her gently. "You need to rest more."

"I can't," she murmured, her eyes unfocused. "There's just too much to do. The scouting parties to the east and west should be returning soon. I'll need to correlate the expected enemy strength with the strategic analysis…"

"No," I told her, still gentle but firm. "Master, you need to rest. Sleep is a part of battle preparation. Exhaustion is the enemy here. You won't do anyone any good if there finally rises a situation where they need your magic and you simply can't stay awake long enough to cast."

"You sleep far less than me," she pointed out. Despite her insistence, she was drowsing where she sat.

"And I'm fully grown, and a lot more used to it," I cut her off. She knew I was right, and it was only her pride keeping her in her chair now. "Sleep. And then you need to eat. Hunger is the enemy here too."

"There sure are a lot of enemies, aren't there?" she managed to get out, her voice tinged with amusement. I smiled back at her gently.

"Indeed," I agreed solemnly. "We are beset upon from all sides." Especially from the command side I couldn't help but grouse to myself silently.

Louise finally put down her cup of tea, unable to resist my urgings any more. When she tried to stand, her exhaustion caught up with her, and she stumbled back down. She gave me a tired look. "Help me please?"

I lifted my little Master carefully and placed her on her bed. I began to undress her gently. She tried to help, but her hands trembled too much to be able to handle even a single button. I wrapped her in her new nightshirt, and helped her fasten it up.

Once we arrived we discovered that Louise hadn't really thought too far ahead when she was considering what she was going to bring. Despite the fact that she still had the strange quirk of not being able to sleep while wearing undergarments she hadn't thought to bring along any night clothes. She had experimented with sleeping in nothing but her cloak, but it had proven uncomfortable for her. In the end, my old red button down shirt that had been worn down to softness like silk from its long use was sacrificed for the task. I had had to hunt down a new top, and settled on the moderately tight black shirt that I now wore. I had torn off the loose billowy sleeves it originally came with, and now Louise's blue aborted sweater that I had purloined to cover my runes also served for keeping my arms warm.

"Shirou," She muttered, already wrapping herself in a woolen blanket. "Go out and relax a bit. I'll be fine for a bit, but you need to unwind too. Stress is the enemy…" She yawned mid sentence, let out a little 'fuuuu', and was asleep the moment her head hit her pillow.

I sighed. "Very well, Master," I addressed her sleeping form. I turned to the table, where Derflinger was still propped up with a cup of tea. "Can I leave her in your care for a while?"

"My care?" the sword let loose a snort. "What am I supposed to do? Tuck her in if she has a nightmare?"

I rapped it on the hilt with a knuckle. "No, but you can shout if there's an intruder to wake her up," I scolded it. I headed to the door. No matter how much I might want to deny it, I was on edge myself. Louise was right. If I didn't find some relaxation soon, I'd probably end up slaughtering all the pigheaded generals myself.

"Go on," the sword told me, sounding sly. "I think there was a settlement of camp followers on the east side of town," it informed me, though how it had gotten that information I don't really want to know. "You should see some of them. Sexual frustration is the enemy after all."

"You are entirely too crude for an asexual weapon, you know that right?" I told it dryly as I headed out the door to find some kind of distraction from my own worries.

*Scene Break*

As I walked around the city of Saxe-Gotha I took a moment to reflect on the fact that Louise hadn't been the only one ill prepared when it came to clothing. It can't be helped. No one is perfect, and no matter how hard you try you're always guaranteed to miss at least one thing.

What I had apparently missed in my own planning was the fact that due to Albion being a floating island, it was freaking cold. Why the army had chosen to begin its campaign at the end of summer, right when fall was beginning to break and the weather to chill, I'll never know. It didn't seem like the kind of amateur mistake that de Pointier would make, so I could guess the blame for it would most likely lay on Henrietta herself. Her eagerness to crush the ones who had taken her love was admirable in its own way, but I wish they had crushed him at a point two or three months earlier.

The atmosphere of the city itself was nearly that of a festival. It was the Silver Pentecost, which was a new year's festival that ran for about two weeks. It was vaguely similar to Japan's own Golden Week in scope. The local residence of the conquered town had set up stalls, and music and hawkers echoed from just about every street corner. When the Tristain-Germanian forces had arrived, they had discovered that the Albion forces had deserted the town without leaving even a token force behind. Instead, they had taken every scrap of food they could. In accordance with the directives of the princess, the army had been forced to share their food with the locals. This left everyone on short rations, but combined with the fact that this city still had lingering loyalties to the now dead and disposed original rulers it had left us as a liberating force rather than a conquering one in the townspeople's eyes. Everywhere you looked there were old men and women thanking the soldiers for their kindness, and young soldiers flexing their muscles and acting silly for the sake of winning them some local lass' affection.

I wondered idly through the streets, keeping an eye out for a vender that would have a decent cloak. I might be able to ignore the cold to a higher extent then some of the others around me, but hey, cold was cold. It was while I was examining a potential buy, a thick piece of heavy blue cloth that would serve nicely as a way to not freeze to death, that I heard a surprised voice call out behind me.

"Oi! New guy!" a woman shouted, and it sounded familiar enough to warrant me turning around. I couldn't help but blink when I saw who was addressing me with a grin.

"Jessica?" I asked just to confirm that this wasn't some very strange case of mistaken identity. The chesty dark haired town girl grinned at me as she picked up her pace a bit. She must have noticed me from across the street while in the middle of doing some shopping of her own. Hanging from the crook of her elbow was a large wicker basket laden with wrapped packages. It looked like she was trying to get her hands on ingredients and was having trouble finding anything people would be willing to part with. "What on earth are you doing here?" I asked her as she flounced up with a grin.

"That's what I should be saying," she teased me, bumping me with her hips playfully. "Don't tell me you got the war bug too and decided to enlist?" She raised an eyebrow in humor. "I hear fighting in a war is on a whole other level then taking care of a few drunks in a back alley."

"Well, something like that," I dodged the question, dropping the cloak I'd been examining earlier. It was an outrageous price, and too small for me anyway. I glanced at the basket in her arm, and raised an eyebrow, lifting a hand to her. "Want me to take that for you?"

"I thought you'd never ask!" she said happily, taking advantage of my good nature to instantly shift her burden onto me. It looks like she definitely remembers how much I like to help. "Come on," she said in a cheerful tone. "When word came down that the army was short on supplies, they opened up the option for merchants to start arriving on their big war ships. When dad heard about it, he decided to start expanding. Figures he'd be able to make a killing on lonely soldiers!" she gloated happily. Apparently she felt her father had good business sense for jumping on the opportunity.

"How is Scarron doing anyway?" I asked letting her lead me along as she started skipping from stall to stall, hunting down bargains with a speed and efficiency that I could never hope to match in a million years. City girls were scary like that out in these lands. Jessica rolled her eyes in long suffering patience.

"You know daddy," she told me as though it should explain everything. I nodded remembering the big man and his very…unique… personality. "The first thing he started doing when he decided to come out here was figure out what his new wardrobe would be." I winced involuntarily.

"Thanks for the heads up," I told her in fervent gratitude. It's not that I didn't like the guy. Really, he helped out a lot of girls in troubled situations, had a good head for business, and was about as nice as they came. It's just, well, I had trouble dealing with him for long periods of time without an appropriate buffer.

"No problem," she chirped. It looks like coming across a familiar face had made her day. "So," she said slyly, glancing at me from the corner of her eye, "what do you think the chances are that the commander of whatever unit you ended up in would be willing to part with your services? We've had trouble finding someone as good at washing dishes as you out here." She teased me playfully.

"Oh," I said dryly. "I doubt they'd be willing to part with me so easily." So that's what the little imp had been angling for.

"Oh? You sure? We'll be willing to give him and a few of his friends discounts. It'd keep you out of the field too. Just think about it, no more risking your life," she sang, trying to tempt me into leaving the military life for the civilian sector once more.

"Oh, I'm positive," I gave her a half grin. Still. Louise had told me to take the day off, and I do need a way to relax… "However, Jessica," I begin, stopping.

"What is it, Shirou?" she asked me, cocking her head and turning to face me. She let loose an 'eep' when she found me standing a foot away from her. She began to blush when I took one of her hands in mine. "W-w-what are you doing?" she gasped, her face red.

"I do have the day off, and there is something you can do for me, if you want me to spend it helping your shop out." My eyes were intense as I peered into hers. "Something that only you can do, something personal."

"W-w-what do you mean?" she stammered again, the flush growing. I let loose a wolfish smile.

*Scene Break*

"Ah!" I said happily, glancing down at the bounty in front of me with a feeling of bliss. "This is just what I needed."

Behind me, Jessica giggled as she shook her head in amusement. She shrugged and turned to her father who was standing beside her and wiggling gratuitously. "Well, he said he'd be happy to help out a night if he got to cook," she explained to Scarron as I happily bustled around the tent's kitchen. The Charming Faerie Inn mark two was a tent, but since it was a semi-permanent one it had a great number of resources that other tents didn't have around here. "I figure we give him enough food and he can make something that lasts all night. We won't even have to pay him!" she declared happily, before suddenly giving me a strange look. "Oi, Shirou. Where did you get the chef hat?"

I had traced it, but naturally I wasn't going to tell them that. This was my night to relax, and I was going to do it in style. "It was over there somewhere," I waved at one of the counters dismissively. Hmm, they had fish, and potatoes. I think the meal would be…

"Uncle," another voice called out, and this one was enough to bring me out of my trance in surprise. "Have you got the ingredients yet? I'm about ready to start…" the voice trailed off when the speaker entered the room and froze, dropping her tray. "Shirou?"

"Siesta?" I gawked back. She was dressed as a maid still, but in getting with the theme of the bar it had been modified to show off more skin. It looked more fetishy then functional. The skirt was much shorter, and the top seemed to be missing a good bit of material. The apron that covered it all was entirely too frilly to be in a kitchen.

"What are you doing here?" we both asked simultaneously. We paused, and I indicated that she should go first.

"Well, a little after you and Louise left there was an attack at the school," she explained, looking like she was still getting over the surprise of running across me in the kitchen of her work. "They closed it down and sent all the students and staff home till the war was over. When I heard that my uncle," which was apparently Scarron, "was coming here to open a store I volunteered to come along." She sounded happy that she had. She smiled at me and clasped her hands in front of her, wiggling almost in sync with her uncle. "And I thought it would be hard to find you here!"

"Well," I began, giving my own explanation, tying an apron on while I did so. "Louise has given me a day off, so I was wandering the town and came across these two," I nodded at Scarron and Jessica, both of whom were glancing back and forth in surprise at our apparent familiarity with each other. "I'd spent some time working for them before, so I agreed to give them a hand on my day off," I gestured at the small kitchen area where I had begun to set up the ingredients I'd need for the menu.

"Ah!" Siesta yelped, finally noticing that I was apparently about to start cooking. "No! Here, let me do it," she ordered, rushing over to try and take the knife away from me as I prepared to begin chopping the vegetables.

"No!" I yelped back, holding the knife above my head as she leaped at it, once more trying to steal my time in the kitchen. "It's fine! Really! I want to cook! I like to cook! You don't have to take over."

"No! I like to cook too! I like to cook for you even more! Let me do it!" When she realized that my height advantage had rendered her incapable of getting the blade from me, she instead targeted my apron, reaching around my neck to try and get at the straps tying it there, her face set in an expression that would have been cute if it hadn't been intended to deprive me of my reward. I used my other arm to try and stop her.

"Ah! Don't tell me that this is the young man you've been writing to us about," Scarron gasped, wiggling as he happily started to narrate his thoughts. "The one you're in love with, but has another woman, but you don't think he'll ever be able to be with her again, so you're trying to convince him that you can heal his broken heart!"

I gawked at Siesta, even as she ignored the world around her as she tried to usurp my position as chef. I still had the knife and apron, but she had managed to get the hat, and it was now perched on her head as she continued her campaign of terror against my recreation. "Just what is it you've been telling them?" Suddenly, a new thought came to me, and I glanced at Jessica with wide eyed horror. She was returning the favor, gaping at me unashamedly. "Wait, you're the cousin that keeps trying to get her to use love potions?"

"Wait, you're the one she's trying to get me to help with seducing?" Jessica gaped back just as shocked. "Great Brimir, it's true," she whispered, as though coming to a realization. "Y-y-y-you really are too much for any one woman." She gaped at me, awe growing on her face. "I didn't really believe it before."

"Argh," I grit my teeth and pressed my temple in frustration. "Will you leave that stupid rumor alone? It was just Louise getting revenge for me making fun of her knitting!" Then I realized something important. I had my hand on my head, which meant…

Sure enough, in the distraction Siesta had managed to get my apron off me and was now bustling behind me, using a smaller paring knife to start cutting the vegetables up while humming. In the fetish maid outfit she looked more like something out of an 'H' game then an actual homemaker like she was trying to portray herself as. Seeing me staring at her, she winked at me over her shoulder. "Just have a seat, Shirou! It'll be done soon!"

No! My dinner! I had it all planned out. First I was going to take the fish and…

No, if I go over my plans again, she'll defeat me while I'm distracted! I refuse. I refuse to surrender the kitchen. This called for desperate action.

"You know," I said, my voice low and deep, as I moved to stand directly behind her. She froze when she realized I was pressing my chest against her back. "You don't have to kick me out," I whispered in her ear. Her face began to turn bright red. I placed my hands on her shoulders, tracing my fingers slowly down her arm to her wrap around her hands. Her blush turned atomic and she began to shake. "We could both help each other. In close proximity, brushing against one another. We could cook," and here I let my voice trail to a whisper, my voice slow and intimate, "to-ge-ther."

It proved too much for the maid. With a long high-pitched whine that sounded like water in a kettle coming to a boil, she passed out in my arms.

"Well then!" I declared happily, recovering my apron and my hat. "You two look after her, I should be done soon!"

"Wow," Jessica whispered, staring at me in shock as I handed Siesta to an entirely too amused Scarron. "Was that Shirou's attack power? No wonder women fall to him…"

I rolled my eyes. Now, to get started on the fish.

*Scene Break*

"Mou!" Siesta pouted, her face still flushed, but this time in embarrassment at having been defeated so easily. "But I wanted to cook!"

"There there," I told her benevolently, smiling as I put the plates on the table where Scarron, Jessica, Siesta, and soon to be myself were sitting. Around us the rest of the girls at the bar were flitting about, their skirts flouncing behind them as they helped happy soldiers and curious locals, beginning to serve the meal I had prepared earlier. "Just try it."

Still pouting she took a bite as I took my seat. She froze, the fork in her mouth. Without another word she slumped. "I've been defeated," she began to cry piteously.

"There there," it was Jessica's turn to console, even as she happily began to tuck in to the food. "Just think. You, him, the kitchen, and…" she leaned in to whisper something in the maid's ear. Siesta's face began to flush, starting at the base of her neck and flooding all the way up to her hairline.

"You don't think…?" she said, sounding unsure, but like she wanted to believe. "Would that work?"

"It will!" Jessica proclaimed, clasping her cousin's fist in her hand her own face determined. "I guarantee it. And I will help!" Siesta's eyes widened in response to the declaration and she grasped her cousin's hand with both of hers.

"Really, Jessica?" stars shone in her eyes. I tried really hard to ignore their presence the same way they were ignoring mine as well.

"Yes! I will find out once and for all if he really is too much for just one woman to handle," fire had lit in the city girl's eyes. "The dual naked apron will win this battle with absolute certainty!"

"So," Scarron started, also purposely ignoring the two impassioned girls sitting besides us. "How's little Louise?"

Don't think about it, don't think about it, don't think about it. Using all my skills, I ignored the reality a few feet beside me and focused on Scarron instead. An act I never really thought would be the lesser of two evils. "Absolutely exhausted. She's been working herself to the bone again," I sighed. "Today is the first time she's had more than four hours of sleep since she got here."

"Ara!" Scarron wiggled a bit, and concentrated on eating his food and not paying attention to the two girls embracing each other and crying happily next to him. "That poor girl! Do you think we can see her?"

"Not tonight," I tell him directly, but I smiled at him to soften the order. "I'll bring her by tomorrow though. We have time off with the Pentecost, so I'm sure she'd be happy to swing by."

"Tres bien!" Scarron proclaimed wiggling in his seat.

I decided to focus my attention on the customers around me, watching as they enjoyed my food. That way I wouldn't have to see Scarron wiggling, nor Siesta and Jessica plotting.

Just savor the peace, I told myself. Just savor the peace.

*Scene Break*

"Shirou," Louise said to me patiently as she sat at the table. "Why do we keep coming here again?"

"Because it's a reservoir of peace in an otherwise tumultuous maelstrom of chaos?" I tried, supplying the answer as best I could.

"Hahaha," Louise said, not actually laughing but just saying the syllables in a dry tone. I tried not to shudder at the sound. It wasn't that it was a bad sound, it just that the way she pronounced was just a little too similar to the 'Tohsaka Rin Scary Laugh'. "Really? This is the best we can do?" she asked eying the scene in front of us.

"Just try to ignore it, Louise," I advised her. It was a survival mechanism that I had become quite good at using. No, Jessica hadn't started to spread rumors of my sexual prowess. No, those imaginary rumors were not grossly exaggerated and humanly impossible. No, the other girls at the inn were not staring at me with wide eyes laden with worship and awe. No, they were not dangerously close to forming a cult.

"I'm trying, Shirou," she told me her eye twitching and her fists periodically closing on her knitting needles without warning, causing her already shady stitching to develop strange and disturbing knots all up and down the scarf she was working on. "But it doesn't seem to be working."

"Then try harder, Master," I recommended, and took a sip of the sake I had in my hand and sighed happily. It was actual sake, not wine. Albion itself didn't carry much in the way of wine. I think it had something to do with the climate not being good for grapes. Instead they brewed a strong and rather tasty beer instead. However, Scarron had taken offense to this supposed inadequacy. In Tristain wine was the only way to go when it came to drink. Thus he had gone overboard in brining a very large variety of his favored brew with him when he set up shop. He was hoping to cultivate a taste for it in the local populace and thus ensure a monopoly on the market. Part of the process of going overboard had been brining a wide variety of lesser known or cared for wine.

And in that mix, I had discovered this gem: genuine rice wine. It wasn't very popular, and I didn't blame anyone for that. Some mad genius in this land might have tried to brew it, probably at a whim, but they hadn't exactly had the experience for making proper sake. Thus, the drink was of poor quality. It was such a nostalgic taste that I honestly didn't care, and that left me the only one willing to drink the brew.

The morning after I had discovered the inn I had informed Louise about it. She had been thrilled, and consequentially she had insisted we head over immediately, for once not caring about the fact that we'd be missing the generals meeting. When we had tried to head out, I had discovered that contrary to my expectations the aide Mathew Penterdon had shown up to have the review session I had decided on.

We had brought him along rather than put off our intended trip. The end result was that Penterdon was no longer scared to death of me, and that the Charming Faerie Inn had managed to get a good bit of reputation amongst some of the higher ranks of the command. Business was doing well for them.

After a brief bit of happy girlish squealing when Louise and Siesta had met up, followed by the two of them disappearing for a prolonged period of time after Siesta had proudly shown off her newest romance novel and Louise dragging her to the back so they could read it immediately, we had settled down to do a bit of recovering. After a week of being with her friend, eating well from the meals I continued to help with, and being able to genuinely relax, Louise was looking much healthier than she had before.

I took another sip of my sake, practicing my reality denial skills while looking out of the tent peacefully. Beside me Louise continued to frown at her knitting. She glared at it with an expression of fierce concentration, poking her tongue out unconsciously as she did so. I think she was trying to make a scarf this time. So far it didn't look like it was going to try and eat anyone like her sweaters usually end up doing, but I was giving it time. It might just be laying in wait for an opportune moment to strike.

It was just the two of us at the moment. It was the height of the Silver Pentecost festival, and business was booming for the inn so Jessica, Scarron, and Siesta were all busy waiting on tables. It was a very peaceful moment for the two of us. I was wondering how long it would last.

"Sir Emiya?" a surprised voice came from behind me. Looks like I jinxed myself. I glanced over to confirm who it was I had just heard. Despite myself, I was actually surprised to find I was a little happy to see who I thought it was who I thought it was.

"Guiche," I greeted, smiling slightly. Louise blinked and glanced up to see where I was looking. She smiled too, and then seemed to get a confused look on her face when she realized that she too was apparently happy to see the annoying skirt chaser.

"Oh? Louise too?" the blond haired young noblemen proclaimed, smiling at his sister in suffering. "How have you been? I haven't heard that you were on this campaign. What regiment are you with?"

"None," the little pink haired girl told him as the blond came over to join us at the table. Beside him was another man, a fairly big fellow. It looked like Guiche had made a friend in the army. "I'm here as an observer," Louise told him, using her cover story for her presence. "Princess Henrietta asked that I come along to help see that the remaining generals had a moral presence around." Louise gave a small helpless shrug, as though to say, 'What can you do? The command needed a woman's touch.'

"Ah," Guiche moaned dramatically, putting his hand to his forehead and posing. Beside him, the large fellow rolled his eyes, but seemed inured to the smaller noble's actions by now. Seeing both Louise and I giving the taller fellow curious looks, Guiche hurried to introduce us. "Ah! This is Nicola. He is the sergeant in the company that I have been placed in charge of." He drew himself up and I recognized the symptoms of an imminent brag fest, but then he paused. Looking sheepish, he assumed a more humble stance before continuing. "I have to admit, I was ill prepared for a command post, but the sergeant has been assisting me greatly," he admitted. The big man gave him a playful whap on the shoulders, nearly sending the smaller lad of the chair.

"Don't sell yourself short, commander," Nicola said, seeming fond of Guiche for some reason. "You might be a bit inexperienced, but you did a superb job once combat started. They even gave you a metal for it!" He turned back to us grinning. "Your young friend led our unit to being the first to enter Saxe-Gotha proper during the invasion," he explained. I glanced down at Guiche's chest and saw that he did indeed have something shiny pinned to his uniform. I had assumed it was just something he put there to look good, but it appeared it actually had worth.

"Congratulations, Guiche," Louise told him, sounding genuinely happy. I wasn't certain if it was for his accomplishments, that he had survived, or simply if she was just overjoyed to see a familiar face after having to deal with so many people so much less pleasant than a wannabe lothario.

I nodded my head as well in praise. "I'm glad to hear that, Guiche," I told him. Hmm. What was this strange feeling in my chest? It was warm and vaguely self congratulatory. I think its pride. So this is what a teacher feels when they realize the problem student they thought would be flipping burgers all their life goes out and makes something of themselves.

The blond grinned smugly, posing with his flower wand again. "No," he declared magnanimously. "It is I who should thank you for this honor, Sir Emiya! Without your guidance, I fear I would have been lost." He turned to his sergeant and explained. "Sir Emiya was the one who taught me all I know about battle. He is a master swordsman, and without his guidance I fear I would have done nothing more than hide once we actually confronted the orcs at the gate."

It was Nicola's turn to eye me. His gaze looked a little disturbed. "So this is the one who taught you how to deal with orcs?" he asked, looking a little green. He flinched as instantly Louise, Guiche, and my own faces all narrowed into glares.

"Stupid, smelly, swinish, baby eating abominations," I muttered darkly, my two students nodding darkly. Nicola looked a little unnerved but continued.

"And he's also the one who taught you that…" he trailed off, this time wincing. "That interesting training method?" he finally put delicately. His eyebrows rose as both Louise and Guiche simultaneously winced.

"I know it worked," Guiche muttered, rubbing at phantom bruises. "I'm thankful it worked, but still, I can't help but think there must have been another way." Louise nodded her head solemnly in agreement. I rolled my eyes at the two drama queens.

"You both asked for it," I reminded them pointedly, sipping at my sake. I held out the bottle to Nicola, indicating an empty cup. He nodded and I poured him some. He took a sip, and then seemed surprised at both the taste and the fact that I insisted the sake be prepared warm. He put on a contemplative look, and sipped again, tasting it carefully. "Repeatedly, I might add."

"Still, there is another thing I must thank you for, Sir Emiya," Guiche went on, ignoring my quip at him. He sounded genuinely excited now, nearly jumping in his seat. "During combat, you were right. I found myself achieving a greater level of awareness. Not as great as your own," he hastened to add for some reason. It's not like I'd be jealous if he managed to start doing his own blind sword stopping. If anything I'd just use it as an opportunity to spar with him more seriously. It's good to have an experienced partner to sharpen yourself against. "But it is because of the new awareness that I managed to advance," Guiche crowed. "I have become a line class mage!"

"Really?" Louise asked, her eyes widening. "Congratulations, Guiche!" and this time she sounded like she really was congratulating him for his accomplishment. I nodded along with her, but now my curiosity had sparked.

"Really now?" I murmured softly, mostly to myself. "Guiche," I said, my voice suddenly authoritative. The blond jumped, straightening up in his seat unconsciously. "Did you use your sword in the assault?" I asked him directly.

"Yes, Sir Emiya!" he said immediately, his voice a bit loud, sounding more like he was addressing a superior in a briefing then an old pseudo friend at a bar.

"Form it," I commanded him in the tone of his instructor. "Right now." Without another word Guiche was holding a sword in his hand immediately. Nicola seemed amused by how the blond instantly obeyed me. I got the impression that he had a bit of experience with the 'poseur' Guiche as well as the apparently forming 'combat' Guiche. I took the blade from him, and began studying it carefully. It only took me a second, and then I returned it to him with a smile. "Very nicely done," I complimented him freely. "I can see that you've began to make your own style."

"Really?" Guiche asked, sounding pleased that he had impressed me. "How can you tell, Sir Emiya?" he asked eagerly, sitting on the edge of his seat as he waited more me to explain my conclusion.

"Here," I told him, and held my hand up.

Trace on.

I formed Guiche's original sword in my hand, holding it up so that he could compare it to the one in his hand now. Nicola gaped as he saw me perform magic. That happened often enough. Out here when someone was called a 'swordsman' it meant 'commoner'. "Look," I pointed out the differences. Guiche leaned in eagerly. Louise did too, but her attention was more out of curiosity than anything else. She was always eager to pick up little tidbits of information and was used to me being a reliable dispensary of them. "You've subconsciously altered the curve of the blade, rendering it a more effective slashing weapon than piercing weapon. You've also widened the fuller at the hilt, yet shortened it at the tip. You began to make your sword heavier at the tip, altering the balance so it stronger on the swing. However, you've improved the composition as well, so the blade itself is stronger yet lighter. If I were to guess I'd say you like a set stance, not doing much in the way of movement. You probably use your valkyries to cover your rear and flanks, forcing opponents to meet you head on, right" I predicted.

Nicola looked impressed. Apparently he had noticed Guiche's style while serving under him and found my assessment to be fairly accurate. The sergeant looked like a lifer, someone who's been serving in the military since he was a kid and would probably stay in till he died. Guiche took the two swords from me, and began to study the difference, noticing the points I had made. He probably hadn't realized what he had been doing at all. Louise nodded contemplatively. She had begun to adopt a vaguely nostalgic look, as though remembering a time when Guiche wasn't a credible person and more a comic relief persona in her eyes.

"Oi," a voice penetrated over the din of the crowd, causing Guiche to start in surprise from his careful study of the blades in his hands. "No swords out in the inn!" Jessica had managed to sneak up on the group, and now stood with her hands on her hips and a stern look on her face as she lectured the young man. Looking sheepish, Guiche dissolved the blade he had made and I discreetly allowed my own contribution to fade. Then Guiche got a good look at the girl lecturing him, a look which mostly comprised of him staring at her chest. Jessica was in her serving girl outfit, a sleek green off the shoulder number that left her with quite a bit of exposed cleavage and pretty much guaranteed her a tip every time she leaned over. Guiche reacted naturally from there.

"Ah," he said, his voice achieving that tone that he only ever managed to hit when he was about to slip into flirting mode. "Forgive me! I should have known better then to have steel out in the presence of a blossom," he apologized shamelessly, smiling a pearly white smile at Jessica. With a flourish he swiped his wand, and instead crafted a small delicate looking flower. It was polished bronze and very intricately done. If he had put half as much effort into his swordsmanship as he had into practicing that little trick then I imagine he'd truly be a horror someday. "Please, except this token of my apology."

Jessica gave a flustered smile and blushed prettily. "Ah," she gasped. "It's lovely. Thank you good sir." She fluttered her eyelashes shyly at Guiche.

"Such a trifle pales in comparison to your presence," he assured her grandly. Jessica delicately pressed it to her breasts, glancing down demurely. However, the moment Guiche turned away to pour himself a glass and wink at Nicola, Jessica gave me a wink of her own and stuck out her tongue mischievously.

Louise and I both noticed, and both had to take sips of our wine in order to cover up our own smirks. Looks like Jessica got a new target. Maybe losing every penny he had to the city girl would finally teach the blond noble to be a bit more cautious when it came to women.

"Ah! Mr. Guiche," another voice declared, and the blond turned again in surprise. Siesta flounced up to stand beside her cousin, smiling at him as she did so. The two hadn't exactly been best of friends, but they both spent enough time with Louise and me individually to at least be familiar with each other. Guiche responded again, this time less flirtatiously and more sincerely.

"Siesta," he proclaimed with a note of welcome in his voice. She might have been beneath his station, but she was a pretty girl so of course he would be polite to her. Nicola seemed impressed with Guiche's way with the ladies as the cute maid in the somewhat abbreviated maid costume gave a little curtsey to the blond before flouncing over to me. "It is surprising to see you here. Come for Sir Emiya, I imagine?" he sent me a sly glance as he asked her politely.

"Of course!" Siesta declared without hesitation. "Shirou, it's time for my break! I've come to play," she beamed at me before sliding into the seat next to Louise and I. Nicola looked a little lost at the interpersonal on goings, but was happy to have a pretty girl join the table no matter what the case. She glanced over at Jessica, and an apparent silent message was sent between them. The other dark haired girl grinned wickedly before sliding into the seat between me and Guiche.

"Well," I said, trying to ignore the feeling of nervousness that was beginning to form in me for some reason. I kept getting the sense that I was about to be attacked, but couldn't identify the source. It wasn't like assassins had managed to penetrate the city and were now hiding directly behind the girls on either side of me, was it? "You might want to be careful," I cautioned the maid dryly.

"Oh?" Siesta asked, looking unsure of why I would say something like that. "Why's that?"

"Well," I began, cocking my head to the side. "It's just that Louise is knitting again, and well, it can get dangerous." Siesta glanced over to her other side and saw what I was talking about. Somehow during the conversation the simple scarf my pink haired Master had been knitting had managed to sprout what were either stray threads or woolen tentacles again, and had managed to wrap them around Louise's hands in mid stitch. Louise apparently hadn't noticed, paying too much attention to the conversation around her. When she glanced down and saw her predicament, she yelped.

"Ah! Shirou! Kill it! Kill it quick!" she ordered me. A few painful experiences in the past had quickly taught the pink haired girl that once her knitting had gotten this far it was better to throw pride to the wind and get help before her experiments managed to get further out of hand.

"Louise," Siesta moaned, sounding sad for her friend's predicament. With a sigh I leaned over and began freeing the pink haired girl from her predicament before she started panicking and made it worse. I swear. I know its most likely just her getting tangled up by accident, but sometimes I could almost believe that she really was somehow empowering the yarn with some sort of extra dimensional tentacle horror from beyond the realms of human comprehension. "Keep practicing, Louise," the maid encouraged, raising both her fists up in the air in encouragement. Then the dark haired girl seemed to realize my position: body leaning across hers as I helped free my Master from her woolen oppressor. She smiled happily.

"Why does this keep happening?" Louise wailed. The yarn monstrosity had somehow crept up her arms and down her legs. Her clothes were beginning to get entangled in it, and she flushed as she realized that her struggles was pulling up her skirt and stretching the buttons on her blouse.

"Louise," I said trying my best from not becoming entangled myself. "Please promise me that you'll never practice alone," I begged her. "I know you don't like people seeing you while you do it, but if there's no one around to free you then your knitting might end up taking advantage of you." Louise flushed as everyone at the table had a laugh at her expense. She puffed up her cheeks angrily, and her eye began to twitch as she glared at me.

The sad part was that I wasn't trying to be funny. For some reason her entanglements inevitably led to some kind of embarrassing position for her. It was part of the reason I was so sure that they were tentacle monsters.

Once she was finally free, Louise decided the best thing she could to was weather out the laughter was drink. "It's not that funny," she muttered. Still, despite her failure she took it well.

"No it wasn't," I agreed fervently. "I keep worrying one day I'll lose, and then a monster the world just isn't prepared to face will be free to wreak its horrible wrath on all it comes across." That set everyone to laughing again. I shook my head. They didn't realize I was being serious. Rather than finding my statement comforting Louise's face turned even redder.

Finally, in desperation to get the attention of her she snapped and used on of her trump cards. "Shirou! No killing Eleanor!"

Something inside Siesta heard that and reacted on instinct. "For Louise's sister!" she cried, launching herself with such force that her chair was sent scraping backwards loudly as she sank my head into the crevice of breasts. Considering she was still wearing her low cut maid outfit I was left feeling a great deal of her warm skin on mine. Caught off guard I stumbled to the side, falling off my chair and bumping into Jessica, who looked surprised.

"Wait, Siesta! Already?" she asked, confusing the situation. Her face took on a resolute look. "For my cousin's happiness!" she declared, and then launched her own attack, sandwiching me in my own personal marshmallow hell. The rest of the room began laughing and launching cat calls and wolf whistles at the scene.

"Truly," Guiche murmured, watching with wide admiring eyes. "Sir Emiya is one of the greatest men alive." Beside him, Nicola, who was completely caught off guard by all the shenanigans could only sit there and gape, nodded in silent admiration of his own.

Louise watched the devastation she had unleashed, and smiled happily at me when it looked like no one was going to pay any more attention to her adventures in knitting.

*Scene Break*

"Shirou," a hesitant voice started from over my shoulder, causing me to turn my head. An hour or so ago I had separated from the rest of the party, leaving Guiche, Louise, Nicola, and Jessica who had been joined by Scarron and a few other troopers that were apparently in Guiche's command. The men were having a grand old time, drinking freely and swapping stories. Jessica was having a grand old time taking them for every tip they were worth. Even Louise was having a grand old time, telling embarrassing stories about Guiche's misadventures with women to the table at large, evoking laughter with each tale.

"Yes, Siesta?" I said, addressing the maid. She had been part of the group as well, though she was apparently the only one who had noticed when I had separated myself so I could take my sake and sit closer to the exit. She was flushed in what was probably embarrassment at her earlier actions.

"Are you mad at me?" she asked softly, looking downcast and pushing two of her fingers together. She looked ashamed at the thought that she might have been responsible for me leaving the group at large.

I smiled at her ruefully, shaking my head gently. "No," I assured her. "It's fine Siesta. Your heart was in the right place at least," I told her wryly. She gave me a small grin, sticking out her tongue at my gentle jibe.

"Then why are you over here by yourself?" she asked curiously, her hands clasped in front of her as she cocked her head to the side cutely.

"Just having a snow viewing is all," I told her, sipping my sake and turning to the door of the tent again. It was late at night, and without electricity lighting was scarce in the city. For the most part the only thing illuminating the immediate surroundings was the light from the lamps of the inn.

"A snow viewing?" Siesta asked, sounding hesitant. I nodded a chair for her to join me. I made sure not to offer her any wine though. I wasn't sure what would happen if I lit the fuse on that powder keg again.

"Yes," I agreed, before explaining. "In my homeland we like to have viewing festivals sometimes. Flower viewing in the spring when the cherry blossoms are falling is a national past time. And lots of people have late night private moon viewings as well." I let loose a small contented breath. "I guess I was just feeling a bit nostalgic," I admitted, blaming the wine. Not just because it was alcoholic, but also because it was a poignant reminder of Japan.

"Ah," Siesta hummed in understanding, turning her attention to the fat drifting flakes as they were illuminated by the arc of light of the tent. She smiled gently as she watched. "It's very peaceful," she admitted, turning her small smile to me again while brushing some of her hair over her ear.

"Mmhm," I hummed back in affirmation. Together, just like the time when the two of us had watched the dawn at the field of Tarbes, we sat together peacefully, enjoying the beauty of nature.

"It's almost enough to make you forget that there's a war out there," Siesta finally said, her voice sounding sad. I glanced at the kind girl. She had her face puckered up in sorrow, and had fisted her hands in her skirt.

I snorted at that. "There's always a war out there, Siesta," I told her cynically. "If there's one human alone, they're a saint. If there are two, they're lovers. And if there's a third, well, one of them will kill the other. It's the way it is now. It's the way it was before. It's the way it'll always be."

"That's a sad thing to say, Shirou," she scolded me with a pout.

I sighed. "You're right. Sorry. The nights drinking has brought out the worst in me I suppose." I was lying. I wasn't sorry at all. When did I start to think like that, I wonder? I kept staring out at the snow falling. I imagined it was ash, descending from some vast fire some incalculable distance away.

A hand on my knee almost made me start. I glanced over at its owner. Siesta was looking at me again, her face sad. "It's because of this. Because of war. All the nobles, fighting and killing each other is bad enough. But they have to bring everyone else into it." It was the most bitter I'd ever heard the normally kind country girl. "I wish the nobles would all kill each other, and let the rest of us alone."

"Heh. And if you had magic, you could enforce that wish. Then you'd be just like them," I snorted. She winced and glanced away ashamed of herself. "You mentioned once, why I didn't try to get back to my homeland? It's because it's the same, no matter where you go." The sake was warm, and the night was cold. Beside me, Siesta shivered and drew close. In the loud inn, no one noticed the two of us sitting quietly to the side. She shivered again beside me. I don't know if it was the cold wind blowing in, or the cold words being said. "So instead of worrying about it, let's sit here and watch the snow fall."

The silence we sat in was intimate. Not the kind of intimate that was between lovers; the kind of intimate that was between two people who could call each other friends. Still, silence never lasts forever. Siesta began to giggle, her body jiggling against me comfortingly.

"Hehehe. You know what you were saying earlier, about if there were three people?" she looked up at me, her eyes dancing with mischievous. I cocked an eyebrow, curious about where she was going with this. "Well, if you were there, Shirou, three people would still be lovers." She stuck her tongue out at me cheekily again.

I gaped at her teasing, and then began to laugh helplessly. Siesta joined me softly.

"I was lying earlier," she admitted to me when we finally got control of ourselves. "I don't hate all nobles. Some of them are alright. Miss Kirche, and Miss Tabitha. Mr. Guiche. And Miss Valliere. And you," she smiled up at me softly. "I want you all to be alright." She looked at me. This wasn't the normally soft and kind girl that I knew. This was something fierce, something that was bred into her, the toughness of a country girl, born and bred with the threat of weather, of monsters, of nobles hanging over her.

I've always known that I had a weak spot for strong women. And right now Siesta was pressing that button hard.

Siesta didn't seem to notice, something that I was very grateful for. She pressed on, still fierce. "I have something I want to ask of you, Shirou."

In the noise of the inn, no one noticed the two of us as Siesta made her request of me. No one noticed when she gave me something.

Afterwards, the two of us sat in silence, watching the snow fall.

I even let her have some of my sake. Just a bit though.

*Scene Break*

Later that night, after Louise and I had returned to our hotel room, I sat awake letting the buzz of the alcohol fade from my head, watching the snow fall from the window. Louise was asleep, wrapped in my old shirt, snoring happily. The girl just couldn't hold her alcohol, no matter how much she tried.

I sat alone in the dark, listening to her as she would occasionally emit a small 'fuuu', or a 'mun mun mun'. I smiled affectionately.

In the distance, in the still of the night, there was an explosion. It broke the still night like a thunderbolt from a clear sky. The windows of the hotel rattled from the concussive force. A second one emitted, from the same side of town separated by a few hundred yards. Then a third, then a fourth.

"Ah?" A sleepy voice emitted from behind me as I watched the carnage begin to unfold. "Shirou," Louise yawned, interrupting her own wake up speech, "what's going on?"

"The counterattack has come," I told her softly. "There's no reason to concern yourself Master. I will slaughter anyone that seeks to disturb your rest. Please, get what sleep you can."

"Ah," Louise yawned, her sleepy face beneath her pink hair screwed up cutely. "If that's all that's going on." She laid back down to return to her rest.

Five. Four. Three. Two. One…

"WHAT!" Louise sat back up, shrieking in shock. Another explosion ripped through the night.

*Scene Break*

It didn't surprise me that they attacked. Attacking on a religious and supposedly sacred holiday has always been a time honored military tradition. I couldn't even begin to count the number of times it's happened it my own world. I doubt Derflinger could come up with an easy number for the number of times it's happened in this one. But still, somehow no one but me saw it coming.

What I'll admit to having not having saw coming was the fact that the Albion forces had somehow managed to enchant fully one third of the Tristain-Germanian forces to participate in the counter assault. That one really had me caught by surprise. The end result of it had been that our army had been routed completely, that all the brass had fled as fast as they could, and that now the poor foot soldiers were being forced to slog their way back to Rosais as fast as they could, disheartened and miserable the entire way.

Unfortunately, the princess' court lady didn't rate a proper transport. Thus it had fallen to me to secure one.

Also unfortunately, the initial counter assault had killed both de Pointier, and the Marquis Handenburg. That left only the Chief of Staff Wimpfenn in charge. I'd like to blame his decided course of action on his incompetence or unpreparedness for the duties of actually having responsibility. Sadly, I couldn't. This was a military campaign, and when dealing with large numbers, math comes in; math like sacrificing one to save thirty thousand.

And thus when I managed to make it back to the tent where I had left Louise, two horses behind me for us to make our retreat with I wasn't surprised at all to find Mathew Penterdon there, with a small sheet of paper containing her orders.

When Mathew saw me and instantly broke into a cold sweat, I already knew what awaited us.

"Go," I told the young military aide who was doing his job. My tone might have been less than friendly, but was also not murderous. It was simply resigned. The young man took my advice as gospel and ran like hell. I had no attention for him. All of it was focused on my Master, my poor pale master and the sheet of paper that held her fate in it.

"I've been ordered to assume a position alongside the escape route on the hills outside Saxe-Gotha. I will wait there till the enemy army of seventy thousand approaches. Once they are in range of my magic, I am to continuously cast until I am no longer capable of casting. I am to delay the enemy army for as long as possible, as to provide time for our army to retreat safely. I am not allowed to retreat, nor am I allowed to surrender," Louise whispered tonelessly.

I moved till I stood in front of her. Then I kneeled. "I have no interest in what orders were given to you, Master. My only concern is what orders you give to me." I raised my head and looked the young girl in her eyes. She was so tiny. Even when I was on my knees, we were still almost face to face. "Command me, Master."

She looked so small and fragile as she stood there. She knew what I was offering. I had two horses with me. Her summer at the Charming Faerie Inn had provided her with more than enough experience for her to blend in and disappear, to walk away. To the thrice damned depths of the Root with this foolish campaign, with these foolish generals who distained her and then discarded her; to go back to her home and to her family.

But to do so would mean turning her back on her country, and her comrades, on all those who would die up here, on this floating island.

"Stand beside me?" she whispered. It wasn't an order. It was a plea, from a barely seventeen year old girl who had just been ordered to die. It was a desperate request, from one who was too scared to die alone that I stand beside her while she fell and that I fall with her.

I smiled. "As you wish, my Master." I stood. She was trembling, my little Louise. With a patient sigh, I took a step forward and wrapped one arm around her shoulders. She didn't resist, and leaned against me, bringing her hands up to clench my shirt. I ignored her trembling, staring out the window at the masses of soldiers and civilian merchants who had just been unlucky enough to be caught out here while trying to raise a profit. "Since we will not be leaving with the rest, Louise, would you like a cup of tea while we wait for them to clear out?"

I pretended not to notice her sobs as she choked out her response. "Yes. Some tea would be nice."

*Scene Break*

"Shirou," Louise whispered, holding her cup of tea in a hand that no longer shook. "I've been thinking."

"About what, my Master?" I encouraged her with a gentle smile. She took a sip of her tea again. When I had prepared it, Derflinger in his usual spot beside us, I had produced a bottle of sake that I had managed to purloin from Scarron for my own personal use. Without a hint of remorse, I had generously doused the tea with the booze, and Louise seemed to be enjoying the relaxing effect it had on her.

"About what you said, back at the inn," she admitted. "About what I was willing to fight and die for." She sat in her chair, unconsciously curling herself into a ball as she did so, swishing the cup of alcoholic tea in her hands as she stared at it. She had moved past tears now, and had achieved a state I'd only seen a few times before. It was the state that only one who was about to die can achieve: a strange mix of epiphany and resolve. When one knew ones time left was limited, the eye that they can cast back on their life sees things that they were always too afraid to admit before.

"What conclusions have you come across, Master?" I asked her, my voice comforting as I watched her. My own cup of tea rested before me, as inert and untouched as the cup that rested before Derflinger. I did not need such courage. My own resolve had been set a long time ago.

"It really is a foolish thing, war," she murmured. The alcohol had managed to take the stress of the day off of her, and she seemed contemplative. "To fight and die for the ideals and ambitions of the select few who manage to lie and cheat and steal till they can stand above others and order them as they will." She slumped down, finally releasing her tension at the admission.

"Then why are you willing to do it, Master?" I asked. It was more curiosity than anything else. I wasn't trying to argue her out of her decision. It was probably the hardest one she had ever had to make. It had taken more out of her than any scalpel could ever hope to carve, cut deeper than any blade. To try and argue with her would do nothing more than cheapen her sacrifice, to diminish her resolve. I could not do that to anyone, even my worst enemy, much less the small girl I called my Master.

"It's not for them," she murmured. "It's because if I didn't than what would happen to Guiche? To Siesta, to Jessica, to Scarron? To the rest of the girls of the inn? To the rest of these poor soldiers? To the princess?" She shook again, briefly. "In the end, we're all going to die. But if I die first, then I can keep how many of them alive for just a bit longer?" She gave me a shaky smile. "I guess I want to save someone too."

I shook my head resolutely, as Louise drank a bit more of her tea to settle herself. "That's not saving, Louise." She widened her eyes at me. "That's protecting. There's a difference," I smiled calmly. "You know," I said to her casually, "Siesta feels the same way."

"What do you mean?" Louise asked, yawning as she did so. Her eyes were beginning to droop, her body slump forward in a relaxed manner.

"Just yesterday, at the inn, she came to me," I explained, watching her closely. "She told me that she worried for you. And for me," I gave a small chuckle and a shrug. "She said to me, 'Shirou. If Louise tries to put herself in danger, I want you to make sure she stays safe!' She even gave me something to help with it. It was a sleeping potion, a potent one. She wanted me to drug you with it if I ever had to, and to make sure I got you to safety while you were unconscious." I sighed, looking at my Master where she sat. The potion had finally started taking affect. I had no idea how long it would last, but I had made sure to use the whole thing, mixed in with the alcohol and the tea. "The army still needs to be stopped though. And you and I really were best ones for the job. It's too bad though." I trailed off. Louise was lost to the world now. My words had distracted her long enough for the potion to do its work already so there really wasn't any need to explain further to the girl. Gently I reached over and brushed her strawberry blond hair out of the way, tucking it behind her ear affectionately.

"What's too bad, partner?" Derflinger piped up from its corner. It had witnessed the whole thing, with the patient observance of steel. It didn't matter to a sword who stood against the assembling army coming for us, or even if anyone stood at all.

"That for all I qualify as a Saber, I am still equally qualified for an Archer," my smile turned a trifle bitter. "And Archer's are uniquely suited for independent action; even if it's at the expense of their Master."

*Scene Break*

"Oi, partner," Derflinger said, its voice lacking its usual slightly mocking edge and had a softness I wasn't accustomed to in it. "Are you sure about this?"

"About what, Derflinger?" I asked just as quietly. I was lying on my back, watching as a clear night formed around me. To the west, the sun had just begun to set, the crimson hues it painted the sky slowly fading away into darkness as though ink was spilled on a red surface and was spreading over it slowly.

"About that," the sword said, and if it had a head it would have nodded at the legion that was even now pouring down the pass. I had chosen a spot slightly outside of Saxe-Gotha, along the escape route that only hours ago the last of the refugees had traveled down. It was a hilly area, though not steep enough to qualify as a mountain. A man could traverse up and down the hills in these parts easily enough, though it would take a great deal more time than the valley pass that the army of seventy thousand was utilizing. "Is it really okay, you being here like this?"

"They have to be delayed," I pointed out my voice almost casual. "The order wasn't a bad one at all. If one person can be sacrificed to buy just a few hours, that's a few hours that the refuges can use to board ships, to clear everyone out."

"Then why did you drug that noble girl?" it asked. It didn't have any condemnation in it. Derflinger was a weapon first and foremost. It thought as a sword and was used as a sword. I think there was a great deal of the intricacies of human behavior and feeling that it just couldn't understand. "If you could buy a few hours, than the two of you together could probably buy days."

I hummed softly, sitting up. The air was cold, the cold of an island thousands of feet up in the midst of winter, and my breath frosted in front of my face. I looked down on the approaching sea of bodies. The earth trembled a bit, shaking under the force of so many feet striking it nearly simultaneously. The army had begun to make its way across the floor of the valley. I waited patiently. I wanted as many of them in here as possible when I struck.

"An apology, I guess," I admitted finally.

"An apology? For what, partner?" the sword asked, confusion in its voice.

"For the trouble I had given that girl." I watched, my eyes reinforced as I analyzed the forces coming. They marched in units of five hundred, each block of troops a discrete entity. In each individual formation there was a banner. It was usually located in the back, maybe in the middle. In a land without combat radios, there needed to be an identifying trait that each formation would have so that the commanders could see the location of their troops. It made it easier for messengers carrying new orders to find the appropriate individual commander of each block so that new orders could be delivered more efficiently. Towards the rear and middle I could make out the chains of wagons carrying supplies that a force of that size needed in order to sustain itself.

"What do you mean trouble?"

"It's something I'd began to worry about, ever since I found out that she had been experiencing the dream cycle," I admitted. "I'd noticed that she'd been changing beforehand. I just thought that it was puberty, or her getting her confidence as she finally began to master her magic. But when I found out she'd been dreaming of my past, I had to wonder. Was it my fault?" I gave a small sigh.

"Oi, oi, partner," Derflinger spoke up, sounding concerned. "I'm just a sword, but even I could tell the girl admired you. What could be bad about that?"

"The problem is imitation is the sincerest form of flattery," I pointed out dryly. "If she kept it up, I wonder how much longer she could have remained being a girl. How many of my little mannerisms and habits had she already taken as her own? Just earlier, before we left, she had begun talking about saving people." I shook my head in regret. "Even that horrible ideal, she's begun to adopt."

"I don't think most people would consider saving horrible," the sword pointed out doubtfully.

"Well most people are idiots," I told it plainly. "I think that's the problem with Servants: how much do we warp our Masters, just by being near them?" How different would my life have been if I had never been involved in the Holy Grail War? Would I have been happy, living a peaceful life with big sis Fuji, spending happy times cooking and smiling with Sakura? How about Rin? What would she have been like if she never witnessed the things Archer had gone through? "We Servants, we twist the people around us just by being there. We don't do it on purpose. And it engenders no ill will from the Masters. I've never seen a Master unhappy with the changes they go through. But is it really better for them?" I shook my head slowly. "I think that if I can shoulder this by myself, if I can let Louise go back to being a girl again instead of a tool or a weapon, then this is fine."

"Then you're really okay with this suicide, partner?" the sword asked me, curious.

"It's not suicide," I corrected the blade. "It's dangerous, but the plan I have does have a chance of both succeeding and me getting out alive."

"Oh? And what do you think the chances are?" the sword asked me archly.

"One in fifty," my lip quirked up in a wry smile. "But it's still a chance."

"Heh," the sword chuckled at my semantics. "Well then, partner. What do I know? I'm just a sword. Pick me up and swing me at something," it commanded me.

"You'll get your chance soon enough. Just be patient, partner," I told it back.

It was time. They had advanced enough for me to begin.

Trace on.

"I am the bone of my sword," I chanted, closing my eyes in concentration. "Steel is my body, and fire is my blood. I have created over a thousand blades, whilst unaware of life nor being aware of death. Through it, I have withstood pain to create weapons." I began creating the blades I would need for my plan. There would be four of them, and each one was a powerful and intense weapon. The combined effort would take a heavy toll on my circuits and deplete my od significantly.

"You know," Derflinger spoke up conversationally. "I keep hearing you say that partner. What is it? Is it a spell?"

"Only if I complete the aria," I admit, finishing the first sword. It was a massive twisted and re-curved piece of cinder black steel: the sword of giants, Ragnorok, the blade which incinerates the earth. At nearly half again my height in length, it was a blade that dwarfed even that of Nine Lives. There was nearly no way I could wield it in a conventional sense. Just like with Hercules old weapon, I could only call it when its power would be useful, which was situational at best. I planted the enormous thing into the earth by its blade, and concentrated on the next three swords. Well, technically it was just one sword, but I planned on creating it three times. "I mostly use it as a mantra, something to help me concentrate when I'm about to do something strenuous."

"I didn't know you knew any spells, partner," the sword said, sounding surprised. "Is it a powerful one? Why don't you use it here instead?" it asked, sounding curious.

I grunted, finishing the first of the three remaining blades. It was Caladbolg II. I would need the swords destructive power for what I had planned. "Well," I admit, answering Derflinger's question as I planted my first missile into the earth like I had Ragnorok, "it could work, I suppose. But the spell is immobile and its range is a little too limited for this situation. Sure, I could probably kill oh, four or five thousand, but in the end I'd be nearly completely drained of od. The rest of the army could just wait outside my range till I had to release it, kill me when I'm weakened and then march on and still have enough numbers to wipe out the rest." I finished the second Caladbolg II and began to work on the third.

"Ah well. If it's only four or five thousand than it probably wasn't worth it in the first place," Derflinger responded, sounding disappointed that he wouldn't get to see me do something more impressive. "One of these days you'll have to show me it." I finished the last sword.

"Sounds like a plan," I answered him back easily. The first few regiments of the enemy had begun to draw even with my position on the hill above them. It was time.

"For what it's worth, partner," Derflinger said quietly as I picked up Ragnorok once more, barely able to handle its massive weight and size even with my reinforcing and Gandalfr abilities. "It's been a pleasure to fight with you."

"Tch," I tsked. "Save the mush stuff, Derf. You should just focus on staying sharp."

"Aye aye, partner," it cried jovially. There was no more time for words. Now was the time for action.

Holding the massive blade, wielded by the fire giants during the Age of Gods during the final battle of the Norse deities, I brought it down to strike the earth, screaming as I did so. "RAGNOROK!" It was not a name. It was a command. A command the blade joyfully obeyed.

There are three types of blades that I tend to collect. The first are the mundane. They are simple weapons crafted by man, nothing more than steel that had been tempered and forged into a shape that can be used to slay. The second and third are magical weapons, enchanted blades like Derflinger and conceptual weapons like noble phantasms. I've come to categorize these in two types. The first are those whose powers are simple existent. Like Hrunting, the blade I wielded so long ago against Fouquet's golem: its power was simple, to cut all but magic without regard. Or like Derflinger for that matter, whose very presence was enough to drink the magecraft around it. The others type of blades were those that needed more than just their existence. They had awesome capabilities, but those capabilities required prana to activate, requiring that I feed them my od in order to produce their effects.

Ragnorok was of the kind that needed to be activated. It drank deeply from me, my magic circuits humming as they pumped the od it needed in order to awaken, draining me even further than creating the blade itself had. And when it struck the earth, the earth burned. Starting with a spark where the blade touched a single intense flame, so hot it burned white began, and then began to spread. Roaring forward in an expanding cone of fire the ground erupted in a blazing inferno: right into the regiments that were drawing abreast of me.

Their screams echoed through the night and chaos descended on the advancing army.

I had waited till I could get the maximum number of casualties with my attack, but the truth was that I didn't particularly care how many I killed. The important part was that now the quickest way through the pass was blocked by a wall of fire. I was happy to note that the initial few companies I had slaughtered were mostly orcs. It meant that they were up front to absorb any ambushes or attacks and protect the humans from traps and surprises. It also meant that they would be the first to encounter any refuges, and it warmed me even more than the flames beside me to know that once more that the wretched abominations wouldn't be adding any little skulls to their necklaces.

As the shock from the sudden attack echoed through the ranks, I discarded the blade, letting its traced form dissolve. It would simply be too much of my reserves to use it again. Instead, I traced a bow, and picked up the first of my missiles. Once more my circuits hummed as I charged the blade that I was aiming, making it fragile, making it dangerous, making it broken. I unleashed it at my chosen target.

It screamed through the air, and when it struck it exploded, shredding three of the supply wagons at the end as it did so, before detonating with a concusive force that it knocked over two more, and all the companies of troops beside them. The second missile was aimed more towards the center of the train, and the third on the opposite end. Flames crackled merrily from where stored gunpowder had been erupted, catching more of the wagons on fire.

Silently I took Derflinger back into my hand and began to walk down the mountain, keeping the wall of flames behind me. The light of it would silhouette me, but the brightness of the flame would interfere with anyone attempting to target me. The Albion forces now had flame to the front of them, behind them, and in their midst. This would definitely slow them down a bit, but not enough in my opinion. The fires summoned by Ragnorok were hot, and would burn for seven days and seven nights without end, but in the end they were localized. It would take little more than a small detour for them to simply walk around it. Plus a good number of the army were mages, so they could just as easily fly over it with wind, or use earth to make bridges over it. It would be funny to see water mages attempt to put it out. That just wasn't going to happen. The loss of the supplies would probably slow them down even less. I had managed to destroy perhaps sixteen wagons, but there were dozens more behind those. Add on the fact that they had an uninterrupted supply line behind them, and the most I had accomplished there was making them a little hungry while they caught up and slaughtered the refugees.

No, the point of this attack was something else. With my reinforced eyes I tracked the movements of the messengers that were dispatched from the individual units. I took note of where they were sent from within the units, confirming my hypothesis that those in charge were usually stationed next to the banners. They were further distinguished by their helmets and insignias. It was important that they be recognizable so that the rank and file would know that they had to listen to them when they started belting out orders. Messengers began congregating at specific units, which I assumed had the next higher rank up from company commander, most likely battalion commanders.

It was while I was watching where those battalion commanders were sending their men for orders, and identifying the individual whom I was certain was the general of the enemy forces, that I was finally noticed.

When the first swarm of arrows was launched, I stopped walking. With the insane speed of the power of Gandalfr combined with my own reinforcement, my body blurred away. By the time the arrows hit where I was standing I was already carving my way through my first company.

Moving my way through, Derflinger cutting left and right of me in a silver blur, I made sure to aim my strikes appropriately. I didn't want to kill those I cut by accident. No, a dead soldier could be left aside in the cold and come back to later for burial. I didn't want to limit their numbers, I wanted to limit their mobility. Instead, I aimed my sword at the limbs of the soldiers as I passed. I didn't want corpses; I wanted maimed and injured troops, screaming for help, absorbing medical supplies, spreading fear and unrest. I could aim at the torsos, but a skilled water mage could heal most of the not instantly fatal attacks pretty quickly. Instead, I aimed at arms and legs. Even if their wounds were closed afterwards, they'd still be missing a very important piece. A soldier with one arm, or no hand, or even only six fingers left was one that would absorb supplies and unnerve the enemy. I wanted them to be seen and to have those who see them look away in shame, to drag their feet as they moved forward in an effort to try and save themselves from having the same fate.

In other words, it was time for me to channel my inner anti-hero. I had to be vicious, vicious enough to crush the will to fight from anyone who had witnessed me, and to have that same doubt spread long after I was gone. For the first time in my life I found myself wondering 'What would Gilgamesh do?' in a way that wasn't derogatory.

The first company I carved my way through had no idea what was happening. All they knew was that from what appeared to have come right out of the flames was a razor wind of steel that was carving them to pieces and moving so fast they could barely register it. I didn't linger or dart from side to side; instead I sliced my way through till I found the commander, only just beginning to recover his awareness enough to notice my approach.

That one I did kill, slipping Derflinger into the crack between his shoulder pad and his helmet, sliding it through his neck, and leaving his head to tumble through the air before it landed with a 'clang' that was lost in the sound of screams. I didn't want anyone in charge of the mess I left behind. I wanted them all milling about in confusion. I wanted order to take a while to be recovered.

The moment I killed the first one, I changed direction, still cutting all in my path, and headed for the next company, this one closer to the regiment that housed a battalion commander.

This was the essence of my strategy: move fast, leave confusion behind me, cut off their commanders' heads, and then disappear. Zigzagging my way through the enemy until I finally cut my way all the way through in one pass, and then I would disappear. The city of Saxe-Gotha had plenty of dark alleys and streets for me to hide in. Even if I couldn't make it there, there were thick woods in these hills. I could move faster at night than they, and I would vanish like a ghost in the mist. After that, it was just a matter of me finding a way off this island, but there were always unlawful places where a person could find a ride if they were willing to risk it. Smugglers and pirates that I could track down and bribe or threaten my way on to their ships until I could make my way back to Tristain proper.

I finished making my way through the second company of troops as I reviewed my plan in my head one last time. It was insane, yes. Dangerous, yes. But not impossible. And more than that, it would work. By the time they finished straightening out the mess I was delivering to them, than the last ship with the last Tristainian or Germanian on it would be long gone.

When I broke from the second company, trailing severed hands and fingers and legs and one head behind me, the enemy had finally managed to collect itself to begin a hasty counterattack. The moment I had broken free of the soldiers the units surrounding me, the one I had selected as my next target especially, began unleashing arrows at me. From above, the roar of dragons echoed through the night as the mages riding them began to cast spells down on me as well.

Most of the attacks missed, and by a wide margin. I was just moving too fast, darting from side to side as I did so now, for them to have any chance of aiming at me precisely. The danger came from the ones who weren't even trying to aim; the ones firing wildly in my general area, the ones who might hit me purely by accident; those and the dragons themselves. An arrow came from my side, striking against my arm, and glancing off. I had reinforced my clothing to the absolute limit, and it now reacted as though it were chain mail, deflecting off the steel arrowheads and reducing most of the damage they did to little more than a scratch and a small bit of kinetic energy. From above, one of the mages had managed to miscast a lightning bolt enough that it was close enough to threaten me. Derflinger swung through the air, and drank deeply of the magic, greedily soaking it into itself.

But when one of the dragons launched a ball of fire for me, there was little I could do except pour on the speed and try to get clear before it scorched me. And then I was safe, once more in the midst of their allied troops, where I had nothing to worry about beside swords, lances, and halberds.

This was the other most crucial part of my plan. I needed to spend as much time as I could actually in combat, and not covering the distance between units. In the companies, the dragon knights had to hold back for fear of hitting their own allies. There, surrounded by enemies who could not match the speed and strength I had, and whose skills paled before the combination of my own and the frightening instincts imparted to me by my class, I was at my safest.

The dragon knights, and the other fliers like griffins and manticores, those were all mages, not mercenaries or commoners. They could hover above me, blasting the ground around me with deadly magic in an effort that would eventually overcome my defenses, and there was nothing I could do about them. I had drained myself far too much with the four swords I had made earlier. Breaking a phantasm was no simple thing; the arcane artifacts had been made to channel prana and could store obscene amounts of it. Not to mention Ragnorok itself was doubly a burden on my reserves; just crafting something that big and potentially powerful was a chunk that I just wasn't comfortable using often. But to use its ability, to pump enough od into it to activate scorch the earth for a week? As I am now, I could make maybe two or three more blades, or I could save the rest and use it to keep myself alive through reinforcement.

And even if my circuits were fully charged, I could have made perhaps sixty swords. This wasn't the invasion of field of Tarbes, where their forces were limited by how many of the enormous beasts they could fit on a ship. This was their homeland, right next to their fully stocked warders and large castles. There were hundreds of the knights up there.

I finished my third unit, and moved to the fourth. There had beeen six units between me and my final target, the general of this force. He had been stationed well back, near the supply wagons where he would be safe, and central enough that he could receive orders from his front and flanks in a timely fashion. But behind him were nothing but a few guards for the supplies and open woods and safe hiding places. More limbs flew in my wake, and a head joined them quickly. This one had been a battalion commander, meaning that the chain of command for even more units than I have visited had been lost once more. This would set them back by days at this point. If the option was open for me to retreat, I'd do so. I might have even consider surrendering and escaping later, but with all the maimed soldiers who would no doubt want some vengeance for their disfigurements behind me, well, that wasn't an option.

Before I made it to safety, six more arrows struck me, I was nearly not fast enough to block the two lightning bolts and a blade of wind that were launched nearly simultaneously, and I had to grit my teeth and force my way through the edges of a dragons breath attack.

They were beginning to anticipate my movements and correct for my speed.

Between the fourth and the fifth companies, the numbers of arrows and dragon breath attacks had doubled, though the number of spells remained about the same. My clothes, reinforced as they were, were beginning to fail to repel the attacks completely. I was bleeding now, and though I had resisted catching fire so far, I was still burnt. My left leg and arm blistered from the heat. It slowed me down.

Between the fifth and the sixth the number of all the attacks reaching me had doubled. I was reaching the edge of my magic, my circuits dangerously low. When I finally closed with the sixth, I was relying solely on Gandalfr to keep me moving fast enough to survive this. Even then, I found myself having to parry before I struck. The commander of this unit even managed to launch lightning at me, before I killed him. I wasn't able to dodge it completely, and it scorched the flesh of my chest, burning a line across my ribs through my shirt.

Just keep going. One more target, and then you can escape, I told myself, my vision beginning to blur. Just one more and then you can disappear.

I broke free from the sixth unit. Above me the sky fluttered with dragons, the knights on top of them already chanting their spells. To my left and right the companies surrounding me had their arrows drawn and ready to fire. In front of me was the enemy general, mounted on a fierce looking manticore. And beyond that last target was the woods, and escape.

To speak in battle is a sin. Soundlessly, I charged.

*Scene Break*

_ Louise pulled free from sleep like a dinosaur of old managing to escape from a tar pit. She yawned widely, unable to stop a little 'funya' from escaping as she did so. Rubbing her eyes, she tried to piece together where she was._

_ "So you're awake, Louise?" a voice asked from her side. Glancing over, she saw the cloaked form of Guiche as he leaned against the rail of the ship, his back to her. His voice sounded strange, with a nasal quality she couldn't quite identify._

_ Wait, Louise thought to herself. Rail of the ship?_

_ Her eyes widened as it all came back to her. There had been orders, to cover the retreat! Than Shirou had prepared tea, and everything had begun to go hazy. Something about a sleeping potion…_

_ "He drugged me!" Louise shrieked in outrage, launching to her feet. Her eyes began twitching and she raised her wand in a trembling fist. "That sneaky Servant drugged me!" She began to fume, puffing her cheeks out in anger. When she got her hands on that impudent, smug, cynical bastard…._

_ "Louise!" a girlish voice shrieked out in joy, and the pink haired noble only had a moment to prepare herself before she was ambushed in a hug by a dark haired maid. "You're safe! I'm so glad!" Siesta was nearly weeping with happiness as she crushed Louise to her chest. Behind her, Jessica and Scarron also both appeared with relief on their faces as well. "I was so worried about you," the dark haired girl cried, her relief at the safety of her noble friend plain on her face. _

_ "Yes, I'm fine," Louise managed to grit out, happy as well that her friend had made it. Despite her anger at her Servant's sneakiness the pink haired girl really was relieved. Gathered here on the ship was everyone she cared about that had been at risk. How Shirou had managed to get them passage all together on one of the earlier ships she'd ask him later. After she finished trying to blow him up. "But what about the others? How many are still left at the port? How soon till the army gets here?" Even if she was safe, she still had a duty to take care of. What was all this about saving people if her Servant was willing to let hundreds die just to make sure the ones he knew were fine?_

_ "This is the last ship, Louise," Guiche spoke again. The weird nasal quality of his voice irritated her for some reason. She knew it wasn't the blond fop's fault, but her anger at Shirou was starting to leak out. Just where was the Servant of his._

_ "What?" Louise asked, Guiche's proclamation surprising her. Thoughts ran through her head. So Shirou hadn't just left everyone behind. He'd made sure that everyone was safe before seeing to the two of them. That meant, and here Louise sagged in relief, that their sacrifice hadn't been needed. Despite the fact that she had been willing, that she had been prepared, the gratitude at being able to live nearly sent Louise back to her knees as they suddenly went weak. _

_ Still, that didn't mean that she wasn't going to get him back for this. She'd find some way. It would probably involve Siesta, Jessica, Kirche, and maybe Tabitha as well, if she could fit her into it, and a couple of rumors that would make even her favorite books seem like a nunnery tale, but she'd get him back for this._

_ "Where is he?" Louise asked, her cheeks still puffed up in anger. She looked around, but had no doubt that Shirou was hiding somewhere so that she would have a chance to calm down before he poked his head out. Louise decided that some way, somehow, she would find a way of using her knitting in her vengeance. There had to be a use for her strange quirk somehow._

_ "You don't know?" Siesta asked, looking worried. The maid 'eeped' when Louise leveled a glare at her too._

_ "Someone had to provide him with a sleeping potion and directions on how to use it," the pink haired noble gritted out, her wand once more shaking in her fist. _

_ Siesta whimpered and hunched over, trying to make a smaller target. "I regret nothing!" she cried, preparing herself. _

_ They were both interrupted when Guiche of all people provided them with an answer that froze them both in their tracks. "The honorable Sir Emiya has remained behind to see to the impediment of the enemies advance," he said softly, still leaning on the railing and watching as the port disappeared into the clouds. _

_ Louise felt something in her crack as she froze. "What?" she said bluntly. Siesta had turned white as a sheet._

_ "After trusting your sleeping self and a pair of horses to me, he remained behind in order to plan an ambush that would suitably delay the enemies during our retreat," Guiche confirmed his earlier statement. _

_ No. Louise shook her head rapidly as Siesta sank to her knees. No, he wouldn't do something like that. He'd never… Oh, who was she kidding? That was precisely the kind of thing he would do! _

_ "No," Siesta whispered, tears beginning to form. "He was supposed to save both of you…"_

_ "And you didn't try to stop him? Or go with him? Or anything!" Louise shrieked at Guiche, a new target for her ire rapidly developing in priority. _

_ When the blond turned around she found that wrath derailed. His left eye was a giant blackened bruise, and his nose had been broken. It was the source of the strange nasal twinge he had been speaking with. "I tried both," he admitted softly. "But Sir Emiya was most insistent that I complete the task he presented me."_

_ Louise began to shake. It only lasted for a few moments before she mastered herself. Striding forward with purpose in her steps she took a place next to Guiche at the railing, crossed her arms, and stood resolute._

_ "Louise," Scarron asked, his voice deliberately soothing. "What are you planning on doing?" He looked like he was ready to grab her in the way he manhandled rowdy customers if she made another move closer to the railing._

_ "Waiting," she told him flatly, not looking back. "Shirou isn't some amateur. He wouldn't have gone in without a plan. He must have some escape route ready," she insisted, and despite the doubt in their hearts, Guiche and Siesta found themselves agreeing. He could be reckless, but there was no doubt in their heads that Shirou was the kind of veteran at this kind of thing that put anything the three of them could think of to shame. _

_ So the three stood watch. They stayed up together on the cold deck of the airship wondering how Shirou would show up. Maybe he'd find a wild dragon and charm it like he did so many other reptiles. Maybe he'd hijack a pirate ship and force them to reform and bring him. Guiche voiced his doubt at that one, seeing Shirou's admitted distaste for pirates. Maybe he'd make some other relic like the Dragon's Raiment, and use it to fly himself back on his own?_

_ Siesta was the first to fall asleep. The girl was exhausted, and slept beside the other two as they remained on watch. Guiche took the second chance to sleep after the maid woke up. He took the opportunity to find a water mage to lower the swelling in his eye and to set his nose._

_ Finally, it was Louise's turn to rest._

_ That night, Louise dreamed that she had cat ears and a tailt. Cattleya was there too, though she was attired as a puppy. Eleanor was pouting, wrapped in the trappings of a fox. All three of them were getting a lecture from their mother, who had a pair of cute pink bunny ears and a bushy white tail while she did so._

_ She dreamed of other things. Cute things, strange things, random things._

_ But none of those things were swords or battle._

_ She was awoken by Guiche and Siesta who had grown worried about her when they realized she had been crying in her sleep._

_ Somewhere deep inside of her, in a place she refused to recognize, Louise knew that her Servant had found his hill of swords._

*Scene Break*

Through a green forest, a man walked. He didn't know how he got there. He didn't know where he was. As he walked, the sunlight dappling the soft earth as it passed through the leaves above him, he found himself rolling his shoulders. They felt light, lighter than they had in a time so long ago that he could barely remember. It was as though something that had been building there, unnoticeably increasing bit by bit till it weighed him down without him ever realizing it, had been removed.

And as he walked, he came across a break in the trees, so small, that he almost missed it as he stared about him in wonder at the scenery. Beyond the gap, he saw a field, vast and green. It was wider, and more beautiful than anything he could put into words.

And the thing which made it so beautiful was the woman that was waiting for him upon it. She was soft, and feminine, her hair blond and warm as the sun as the gentle breeze played it around her childlike face, flowing in front of her green eyes. Her dress was long and soft looking, adorned with lace and ribbon, a blue so pale it blended in with both the clouds and the sky upon which it was silhouetted.

Across the distance, their eyes met. She smiled at him, her hand coming to rest gently on her breast above her heart as she did so, and the warmth of her smile warmed something deep inside of him, something he hadn't noticed had been growing colder and colder the same as his shoulders had been growing heavier and heavier.

He smiled back.

But despite their eyes meeting, there was still a distance between them. When he took a step to try and close it, the gap being blocked by the trees of the forest that still surrounded him, he found that the vision would not return, that the trees that surrounded him were still thick. Every step he took, no matter which direction they were, only served to draw him back deeper into the forest.

Despite the growing shadows around him, and the returning weight on his shoulder, his heart remained warmed. Even if it was only a glimpse, it was enough.

She was still waiting for him.

And he was still searching for her.

*Scene Break*

My body ached. It was the first thing I could recognize as my mind began its long and painful journey back to consciousness; the soreness of muscles that had been pushed too far, the sharp lines of pain from wounds that seemed to encompass my entire body, and the hot ache of fire still covering my left side. My head felt as if it were stuffed with cotton, and then beaten with a sledgehammer.

"Ah," a soft voice beside me said in surprise. I had tried to move, and found that it was probably a better idea not to do that again. "You're awake," the voice, a quiet girly voice, noted.

Awake? Was I asleep? The cotton began to clear, and I began trying to remember the last thing I was doing….

It struck me. Images, sounds, memories; they came rushing back to me. The battle, my falling, the clearing in the trees I had found myself in…

No.

"You're very lucky that I found you," the voice assured me, sounding worried. "You were very close to death when I did."

No. No. No. No. No.

"Even while I was treating you, I wasn't certain you'd pull through," the voice continued. "You very nearly didn't."

No. NO NO NONONONONO!

"You should rest," the voice told me. It still sounded worried, but also relieved that I was apparently recovering. "You still have a lot of time before you're fully healed."

I managed to crack my right eye open. Though my vision was fuzzy, I was able to see the one who was speaking. She was a kind looking girl, very young. She had blond hair, and blue eyes, and two of the longest ears I had ever born witness to. She appeared to be a gentle soul, the kind who would take in a near death stranger, sword still clutched in his hand, and nurse them back to health with no thought to her own safety.

And in that moment, I had never hated anything as fiercely as I did her.


	15. Distant Utopia: The Fifteenth night

Hill of Swords: Distant Utopia: The Fifteenth Night

Author's notes: Well, that was the longest gap between chapters so far. I'm sure many of you, all unaware, had thought the speed i had been posting was my natural writing pace. Sorry, it wasn't. I don't know how I managed to get that much done so fast, but apparently the quick pace had to end sometime.

A brief note on that. Classes have picked up, so my pace is diminished, but don't worry, this story isn't abandoned. I have to admit, a good length of the time since my last post was me forcing myself to stop. I was facing burnout from writing just too much too fast and needed a time to collect my thought and regain momentum. Another major factor was, well, I did something stupid. I googled the story in order to see what else people were saying about it.

I gotta admit, there are some pretty vicious reviews out there.

To those of you who penned the meaner ones, well, thanks for doing it off site. If you don't like it, well you don't like it, but at least you didn't jump down my throat with it. Thank you very much for being polite. For those who really can't stand my work, well, sorry, but you can't please everyone.

However, for those of you who do like the work, thank you so much for all your support! I hope you enjoy the newest chapter, and I'll try to maintain a decent pace for getting out the rest.

Now, as for the chapter specifically, I think the important parts here can be divided in two: interaction between Shirou and Tiffania, and interaction between Shirou and Agnes.

I'd like to think I kept both of them well within the bounds of character. If you think so, give me a shout. If there's anything you don't agree with, feel free to list it as well.

The other big thing here is Shirou's growing reputation. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately considering Shirou's OTHER growing reputation, this one is a bit more serious. It's not exactly an specifically important element at this point, but there will be a plot point later on that will concern it.

And now, welcome to the third arc of the Hill of Swords: Distant Utopia.

*Story Start*

I approached my enemy carefully. Honestly, the act I was about to take part in felt dishonest to me. In fact, I knew it was a poor choice. But that wouldn't stop me from doing it. I have been wronged, wronged horribly, and if this was what it took to make it right, then so be it.

I glanced around, to make certain that it was just me and the target in the clearing. Good. No witnesses. Soundlessly, I brought the ax I had been hiding behind my back in my right hand around. Gripping it firmly, I brought it above my head.

"Now," I murmured, "let's do this." I brought the ax down.

"Ah!" Tiffania shouted. I winced. How? How had I failed? Quickly, before I could be stopped, I brought the ax back up to bring it down again.

"Stop! Stop please, Mr. Shirou!" the blond girl cried desperately. Without regard, the ax came down again. I could do this! I could finish it! No one would be able to stop me in time!

Unfortunately, I was interrupted from finishing my vengeance. A slim frame tackled me from behind. Staggering, I almost dropped the ax. It 'thunked' against the trunk in front of me.

"Mr. Shirou! You can't! You're not recovered enough to be cutting wood! Please, go back to your bed so that you can rest and heal!" Tiffania half ordered me, half begged me from where she had tackled me from behind. I tried to shake the girl off, but she had latched on tight.

"I can't help it! It's just so cold up here! Please, Ms. Tiffania, a few more logs. If I cut a few more, we can have a fire that actually stays warm all night!" I begged her, trying to appeal to her sense of comfort so she'd let me get back to cutting wood. It had been three weeks since I first woke up, bedridden and riddled with wounds, in the small house of the kind girl who was currently trying to get me back in bed so I can finish healing. I had been making good progress, but the sheer mass of injuries I had taken by nature would take a good while to heal.

Honestly, if it was more pressing, I had methods to get around that long recovery time, but I had found myself enjoying the lifestyle I had found myself pressed into.

It was peaceful. It had been a long time since I had lived peaceful. I had thought I had forgotten what it felt like. It was almost startling how easy it was for me to remember.

"Mr. Shirou," the girl sighed, still clinging to me as she tried to pry the log from my hand as I struggled to line up another chunk of the wood I was trying to cut small enough to fit into the fireplace that she used to warm her small lodging. "You're setting a bad example for the children! How am I supposed to teach them to take care of themselves if they see you constantly ignoring your wounds?" She unleashed her secret weapon on me: the trembling doe eyed pout. With her eyes watering , her lips turned down in a quivering frown, her hands clasped beneath her chin, and her ears twitching wildly, it was such an innocent and heartbreaking expression that I couldn't stop from scolding myself for being responsible for forcing her to wear it. With a sigh, I capitulated.

"Alright, alright," I muttered, glancing back at the stump that still held the ax and the wood that I had been attempting to cut. When the blond haired girl smiled beatifically at me and took my hand to lead me back to my sick bed I made sure she couldn't see me glaring at the unfinished chore. "I'll be back for you later," I grumbled at it softly enough so that Tiffania shouldn't be able to hear. "She can't keep her eyes on me all the time."

"Mr. Shirou!" she started scolding me instantly, forcing me to reevaluate how soft I should have spoken. Shaking one finger at me as she opened the door to her cottage she continued. "If I have to I'll hide the ax I will! Now just rest peacefully until you're properly recovered."

"Yes, Ms. Tiffania," I sighed again. It looked like I underestimated her specie's capability yet again. With a resigned air about me I studied my savior again while heading back to the bed she was pointing at sternly.

The first thing anyone should notice when they looked at Tiffania should be her ears. They were long, seemingly impossibly so. Stretching out nearly five inches from the side of her head and drawing into sharp looking points, they clearly outlined just what kind of ancestry lay in her blood: Tiffania was a half elf. At first I hadn't understood what that meant and brushed it off completely when she shyly confessed this fact to me. When she had been shocked at my actions, I had enquired why, and discovered just why it was that Siesta had reacted with such horror when I had attempted to use elf arrows on Eleanor all those months back.

The elves of this land were genuine hardcore human hating badasses. In contrast to my world where elves were mostly thought of as mischievous forest dwelling creatures that rarely did harm to any and occasionally wouldn't even help travelers, the elves of this world were completely different. They had long ago set up residence in some holy land that apparently had some kind of deep religious significance to humans, and hadn't let the humans back in since. Immortal creatures that had spent centuries perfecting their skills, and mastered magic so powerful and ancient that it dwarfed the abilities of most humans, it was considered suicide to fight an elf. It was common military doctrine in these lands that if an elf was on the other side of the battlefield, it was simply better to retreat, as fast as possible and as far as possible.

It was enough to make me wonder just how it was that Tiffania's father had come to take an elven mistress, but then again, it wasn't any of my business so I made no mention of it.

When I had finally healed enough to maintain both awareness and conversation Tiffania had received what was quite possibly the biggest shock of her life when I hadn't displayed the slightest bit of fear at the presence of her ears. She had been spending most of her life concealing her nature from those around her, never leaving her home without some method of concealing her head on, and the only ones who had ever seen her uncovered and not run away screaming in horror were the children she helped raise who had known her since they were infants and probably never heard the horror stories about elves. When she had nervously explained her people's history of me, and I had dismissed it with a shrug, she had been speechless for nearly an hour just staring at me.

Honestly, it was really hard to feel any kind of intimidation when in Tiffania's presence in my opinion.

I mentioned earlier that the first thing anyone should note about her was her ears. Sadly, that was rarely the case. It should be that maybe the first thing should be her form and figure. Tiffania had a willow thin body, so graceful and unblemished that it looked like it had been carved from alabaster by the hands of angels. Maybe the first thing should be her outfit. She wore a tunic of green that was enticingly brief. Held up by a thin cord at her neck, reaching down barely to mid thigh, split along the side and laced with more cord, and with an open back, combined with the white leggings and gloves that were cut in the shape of diamonds at random intervals, her outfit was nearly surreal, and when combined with her body brought to mind legends of dryads and nymphs who dwelt in the forest: creatures of impossible beauty that were unable to be captured by man. Maybe the first thing a person should notice is her kindness. Tiffania was a creature of surpassing empathy and gentleness, giving care to all who came to her doorstop without hesitation or regret. She healed wounded and scarred swordsmen such as me, helped constantly at the orphanage nearby to raise the parentless children of the countryside, by the Root I've seen wild birds descend into her delicate hands to sing praises of her peaceful aura.

Unfortunately, all this was easily overshadowed by what inevitably ends up being the first thing anyone notices about her. She has… well, that is…

I usually try not to be a crude person, and to treat everyone around me with respect they deserve. And Tiffania definitely deserves a great deal of my respect. However, there's no easy way to say this.

The elf girl has ginormous boobies. There's simply no other way to put it that wouldn't somehow diminish or understate just how huge the things are. They were bigger than most varieties of melons I've come across. Each one was nearly the size of her head on its own. I mean, by the Root, how does something like that happen? How is it that she can walk without either losing her balance or suffering horrendous back pain? It's unnatural. Unnatural I say!

"Caught you already, eh Partner?" a voice spoke up beside my bed. Derflinger's voice once more was tinged with amusement as the sword watched the little drama unfolding around him. It had been there when I finally woke from what was most likely a trauma induced coma, though it hadn't been getting much handling these last three weeks. If using an ax had been enough to drive the gentle girl in the room to scolding, then I have little doubt the level of her eruption if she caught me trying to wield a sword.

It would probably involve cute stomping, clenched little fists, and puffed up red cheeks. I don't think the girl has enough meanness in her entire body to ever manage more than that even if faced with aggravation behind the ken of mortal man.

"I wonder how that happened," I told the blade dryly, eying it with suspicion. Surprisingly enough, Tiffania wasn't the staunchest supporter of me staying in bed in this room. I'd never thought I'd find the day when I come across a sword trying to play nursemaid, but then again I never thought I'd see a sword get jealous of a plane, or be scared of the Dead. It really was amazing just how unique Derflinger truly was.

"Because I told on you of course, Partner," the sword admitted shamelessly. I sighed as Tiffania beamed happily at the sheathed tattle blade.

"I'm going to have to go now," Tiffania announced, and then clasped both hands under her chin again so she could unleash her brainwashing pout once more. "Please, Mr. Shirou, won't you please rest for now?" In the face of such a dangerous move, I had no choice but to sigh and nod my head in surrender. Unfortunately, it looks like my word has less value than others, because she then turned to address Derflinger as well. She had adapted to a talking sword entirely too fast in my opinion. "And won't you please make sure he does so, Mr. Derf?" she entreated earnestly.

"Aye aye, Ma'am!" the sword proclaimed cheerfully. I maintained my glower at the treacherous steel at my side as Tiffania beamed happily before flouncing back out to maintain an eye on the children she was watching over.

Once I deemed a suitably long period of time for her to truly get out of hearing range, the glower vanished into an expression devoid of emotion. "Derflinger. We will be going out tonight."

My tone changed the mood of the blade entirely. Losing the amused air about it, the blade spoke just as seriously as I did. "More of them?"

"Aye," I nodded. "More of them."

*Scene Break*

The word was slow to trickle down to the remote little village that I had come to recover in, but it did arrive. The official word is that the war between Tristain and Albion was over. After the successful retreat of the Tristain forces, news which had relieved me more than I was willing to admit out loud, it seemed like the forces of Gallia, which had remained neutral during the course of the conflict, finally acted. They approached the Albion forces, whom apparently thought they were about to get an ally, and then blown their leader up with sustained cannon fire. I was a little annoyed with this development myself, seeing as the leader, Cromwell, was the last known owner of the ring of Andvari. I still hadn't gotten around to it, but eventually I was going to have to see about getting that little article returned to the Water Spirit where it belonged. By now, looters had probably grabbed it up, and now I was going to have to hunt the black market in order to find it.

With the leader and instigator of the conflict now in small fleshy pieces, the one currently in charge was the general that I had seen on the hills of Saxe-Gotha not too long ago. Apparently I hadn't managed to finish the job I had set for myself before succumbing to my injuries. The general had been a loyalist of the original regime that had joined the usurper solely for the purpose of lessening the internal conflict present in Albion after the takeover was complete. With the new government gone, and Albion leaderless once more, the general had immediately surrendered to the combined Tristain, Germanian, and Gallian forces on the condition that a suitable relative of the late royal family be located and reinstated as head of the government.

As wonderful as this sounds, it led to me being out in the dead of the night after having snuck out beneath a sleeping Tiffania's nose, freezing my butt of in the harsh floating island's winter, and carefully studying the small fire and those gathered around it quietly.

"You should see this wench," one of the men gloated, throwing back a wine sack and chugging greedily. "A body so fine it would be truly criminal not to taste it!" he laughed harshly as he gestured with his hands in the shape of a women's silhouette, grossly distending the upper portion. It left little doubt in my mind just what wench he was talking about.

"You sure the place is unguarded?" another of the rough men around the campfire pressed, tearing into a piece of roast meat as he glanced at the drinking one.

"Naught a soul there but children and the wench. Oh, there's one man there I suppose, but an injured one. He won't be a problem. He's still so weak the girl can force him to bed," the wine drinker dismissed the concerns of the second man.

A third one spoke up, sounding annoyed. "Well it's all fine and dandy that you'll have a little moppet to enjoy, but what about those of us who want gold and not women?" The greedy man reached out and snapped the wine skin away from the lecherous man angrily, taking his own turn to drink his fill.

A fourth man, this one cloaked and not moving too much spoke up. His voice was cold, and from the way the other three men paid attention, I assumed this was the one in charge. "After we've had our way with her we can sell her in the black market. Remember, enjoy her as you wish, but if you damage her I'll be taking the loss of profits from your hide, understand?" he glared at the suddenly nervous looking lecher.

It was a common enough tale. With the surrender, Albion no longer had the need to keep around the mercenary forces it had drawn to itself in order to fill its ranks. That combined with the loss of the leadership who had promised them their pay, there were now a large number of lawless bands of professional killers determined to get something out of this campaign; most often by taking it as they will from the inhabitants of the country at large.

This was the third band of such jackals that I had dealt with since I had woken up. I was fortunate that they had apparently taken so long to arrive in these parts. Tiffania and the orphans had no way of dealing with filth like this.

The other two bands I had been forced to deal with in silence and from a distance. It would be a simple enough task for me to stay out of the fire light and snipe them one by one. That was the way I had dealt with the last these four's predecessors, both of which parties had been nearly twice the size of this one.

However, regardless of what my savior thought I was nowhere near the complete invalid she considered me. I had fought with injuries worse than my current level before, and it was time for me to check on my combat potential.

Without another word, I stepped into the firelight, Derflinger drawn and ready in my hand, my face devoid of anything resembling emotion. It was the nervous bandit who saw me first.

"Shit!" he swore, eyes wide, as he launched himself to his feet, hand scrambling for the blade at his waist. The greedy man and the lecherous man blinked, followed his gaze, and then reacted similarly.

It was the fourth man, the cloaked man whose reaction was different.

Face as white as a sheet, he staggered backwards. As he tried to crabwalk away, his cloak caught on the log he had been seating himself on and was pulled away. The reason for his response became clear to me.

"A survivor of the Hills of Saxe-Gotha," I noted aloud, seeing the severed and bandaged stump where the shaking man's arm once was. "Good. I do hate leaving loose ends lying about."

The other men stared blankly as the leader that had apparently been scary enough to keep them in line could only stutter. "Y-y-y-you!" he gasped, looking as though he had been one of the ones who had been unfortunate enough to actually make me out as I cut my way through the army he had once been a part of.

"Me," I agreed, and began to walk towards them calmly. Firelight glittered off Derflinger's bare blade.

*Scene Break*

It wasn't till nearly dawn that I managed to make it back to Tiffania's cottage. The battle itself had been brief enough, providing enough evidence that I am at least moderately functional at the moment. The cleanup had lasted considerably longer, and left me mildly exhausted.

After all, it wouldn't do to leave four corpses lying around where one of the children might find them. It had taken me a while to drag them to the nearby river so I could set them to drift away. My own injuries had begun to catch up with me then, letting exhaustion sap into me faster than it should have.

Still, Tiffania would be up soon. I'd prefer her not to ever discover what it was I had been doing so late at night. A gentle soul like her shouldn't have to bare the knowledge of what kind of scum is out there, or what they might have tried to do to her. So rather than try to sneak in and probably wake the girl up, I instead started to chop firewood.

I had barely finished the second log when sure enough the blond half elf came racing out of her cottage, wearing only her white sleeping robe. "Mr. Shirou!" she wailed piteously. "Please! Stop trying to cut the wood! You shouldn't be waking up so early or sneaking off like this!"

With my back to her, I let myself smile slightly. "But Ms. Tiffania," I protested back. "It's the least I can do. Even if this is the only way I can repay you, than please, let me help."

Derflinger, once more on my back, snorted softly. "Smooth, Partner," it chided me. "Smooth."

*Scene Break*

The routine of me sneaking out and Tiffania dragging me back in by my ear continued for about another week before I was finally given the go ahead to get out of bed without being nagged.

"You really seem to enjoy cutting firewood, Mr. Shirou," Tiffania noted to me while dangling two squealing children from her arms. With all the time I spent unconscious or indoors during my recovery I almost hadn't noticed spring beginning to catch up with the island. It seemed more than a little unfair to me that by the time I finally managed to start producing enough wood to keep the cottage warm the cottage was starting to get warm all on its own, but I persevered nonetheless.

"It's a good way to get my body back in shape," I assured her, lining up another log to be split as I did so. Hefting the ax over my head, I brought it down in one smooth motion, cutting all the way through the wood and sinking the ax head deep into the trunk. "And it always feels good to be able to help," I added.

"Now," Tiffania spoke up, addressing the small hoard of children that surrounded us. Though Tiffania lived a bit off from the orphanage proper, she was still the primary caretaker, educator, and shepherdess for the collection of little rascals that lived there. "See? It's just like Uncle Shirou says," she admonished them. "You should always try to help others out. It feels good to do good things."

While I doubted the wisdom of using me personally as an object for a moral lesson, the children seemed to take her chiding at face value.

"Yes, big sis Tiffa," some of them chimed up dutifully. A few others were busy running around playing the kind of nonsensical game that children make up on the spot while giggling and a few others besides that just groaned. The last few were reaching the age where they were getting big enough to doubt the absolute authority that the rest of them seemed to attribute the blond haired girl.

It was one such little hellion who even now was attempting to sneak up behind me with a stick. The boy's name was Gim, and he had apparently just reached the age where he was becoming jealous of his attractive caretaker's attention.

"Can I help you, little one?" I asked him without turning around as I brought the ax down, another solid 'thunk' echoing through the clearing as the wood beneath it split. The boy let loose a little 'eep', apparently not understanding how it was that what he had considered a perfect ambush had been defeated almost instantly.

The boy abandoned stealth and boldly pointed his stick at me. "You're not gonna get away with it!" he declared, pouting childishly. A few of the children throughout the clearing began watching the confrontation. "I know what your evil plan is!" I raised my eyebrow, collecting the wood I had split so far and beginning to carry it to stack it on the side of the building with the rest of the seasoned timber.

"My evil plan?" I asked dryly, encouraging the boy to go on.

"Yes! Your evil plan!" Gim continued, gesturing with his little stick grandly. "You're planning to steal away big sis Tiffa!" Several of the children watching gasped in horror at the declaration. The rest just kept playing tag. The blond half elf looked up at hearing her name being spoken, blushing lightly.

"Now Gim," she began chiding the boy gently. "Uncle Shirou isn't here to do any such thing. You shouldn't be saying things like that!"

"But you're being tricked, big sis Tiffa!" the boy whined piteously. Gim stomped his feet and waved both his arms about furiously, one still carrying the stick in his hand as he did so. "He's obviously a bad guy who's come to kidnap you and take you back to his evil castle!" The boy pouted, his face red as he delivered his declaration with absolute certainty.

Despite myself, my lip quirked in a small smile. "My evil castle?" I asked for clarification as I finished stacking the wood and leaned against the pile so I could watch the impassioned boy deliver his speech. Tiffania looked like she was embarrassed to have one of her charges make such wild accusations.

"Yes!" Gim nodded his head vigorously, getting caught up in his imaginary scenario. "But I was too smart to fall for your trick! Your real identity is the evil King…" the boy trailed off, and began scratching his head with his stick as he tried to think up something appropriately wicked for my true identity. It was apparent he hadn't gotten that far ahead in his imaginary world.

"The Evil King Gilgamesh the Smelly?" I supplied for him patiently. I know it was childish of me to allow myself to get caught up in the little boys game and even more childish to use the opportunity to make fun of one of my oldest and most hated opponents, but still. Sometimes it was just too perfect to pass up.

Tiffania blinked and cocked to her head to the side in confusion over what was going on while Gim's face lit up and he slapped the heel of the fist holding his stick into the palm of his free hand. "Yeah! That's it! King Gilgamesh the Smelly!" Several of the watching younger children 'oohed' appropriately at my unmasking. Gim boldly pointed his stick back at me, getting into his character once more. "But I won't let you get away with it, King Smelly!"

I let loose a little snort, and stowed the ax on the top of the wood pile so it would be out of the way, before walking a bit into the clearing to give the child some room. "Very well then. I assume you're the Hero of Justice that is going to stop my evil scheme to kidnap the beautiful Princess Tiffania?" I crossed my arms and stood with playful menace over the boy.

"Ooh!" he gasped. "Hero of Justice!" His eyes sparkled at the thought of having so auspicious a title. The small group of watching children, which had begun to grow in number as the scene before them became more and more intricate, gasped as well. Tiffania began to blush at having been named a beautiful princess. She looked like she was torn between trying to impose better behavior on the boy who had started it all and writing it off as just a boy playing a game.

One of the watching children, an adorable little redhead girl who looked to be around five began to tug at the hem of the blond half elf's skirt. "Is big sis Tiffa really a princess?" she asked with wide eyed sparkling eyes brimming with childish curiosity.

"Umm," the now embarrassed older girl began to blush even harder as she tried to stammer an answer.

"Of course," I assured the girl for her. "Evil king's always try to kidnap princesses. It's a rule.

"Ah!" the girl nodded her head solemnly, and then hugged her newly appointed princess' leg.

"Prepare yourself, Evil King Gilgamesh the Smelly!" Gim declared, bringing his stick up in righteous, childish, wrath. "Your evil stops today!" Gim charged forward, and Tiffania suddenly realized she had let the situation get too far out of hand. Worried both for her young charge and her still recovering patient she tried to dart forward to stop it but was hindered by the young girl attached to her leg.

With one fell swoop, Gim brought his weapon down. As he paused to give his victory speech, he realized that his hand was now empty. He had a moment to look up to see his weapon flying through the air before I caught it, several feet away. He gaped at me, probably not even having seen me move.

I lowered my hand holding the stick, tossing it away casually. "And what will you do now, Hero of Justice?" I asked him wryly.

The boy narrowed his eye, and reached up to the back of his shirt. "It's not over yet, Evil King Smelly!" Gim declared, pulling an improbably long second stick from where he had hidden it away and charging me again. Tiffania paused, watching the scene carefully. I could understand her worry. However helpful I was, or polite I might be, I was still a swordsman. And in this land it was a pretty uncommon thing for anyone who carried a weapon to be willing to play so casually with a child, especially one who was attacking. Many swordsmen or nobles would probably kill the child instantly for daring such impudence.

"Victory is mine!" the boy declared. Once more, the brave hero Gim struck down with all his might, and once more he found his hands empty at the end of it. Turning and gaping he caught sight of me once more catching the stick as it spun through the air. This time I lightly brought it down and tapped his head.

What had started as a jealous boy trying to protect his beloved big sister was now firmly in the realm of play. He threw himself to the ground, gasping and pretending to be hurt. "No! How can this be! How can the Evil King overcome the Hero of Justice! Now some weirdo is going to take away Princess Tiffa!" The rest of the children gasped and 'ahhed' appropriately at his declaration.

"The only way you can defeat me now, Hero of Justice Gim," I declared, drawing back deep into my past for all the sentai cartoons I used to watch as a kid back when I had written my paper declaring my intention of being what the boy in front of me was pretending to be, "is if you were to gather the Band of Righteous Allies of Justice before you confront me again." I probably could have delivered this in something other than a dead pan, but acting was never my forte and I was trying to avoid falling into the trap of being a ham.

"The Band of Righteous Allies of Justice," Gim's eyes sparkled as he latched onto the idea. Several of the boys in the watching crowd began to jump up and down, waving their arms at the idea of being a member of said band. Gim shot to his feet, a fierce pout on his face. "I'll be back, Evil King Gilgamesh the Smelly! And when I return, my allies and I will defeat you!" Without another word he ran off to the crowd of kids, and they immediately began plotting my downfall.

I turned away and approached the wavering Tiffania as she stood at the sidelines. "Um," she began, looking like she was waffling between either enjoying the unfolding epic drama of dastardly villains and glorious heroes, or trying to break it up before it got out of hand. "Ano, Mr. Shirou," she began, still apparently not sure of which side she was going to come down on. The little girl still attached to her leg 'eeped' at the approach of the evil king.

"Boys will be boys," I assured her with a small smile. "I'll make sure the roughhouse doesn't get out of hand." With a crooked grin I shrugged Derflinger's harness off my shoulder and turned it over to the wide eyed elf girl. It wouldn't do to have something dangerous nearby when they finally got their Band of Righteousness put together and came at me en masse to dog pile me. It looked like Gim had already begun organizing the gathered children for just such an assault.

Tiffania smiled slightly, giving into watching the ridiculousness with the rest of the girls from the sidelines as the boys made fools of themselves. As she took the sword from me, Derflinger spoke up.

"Heh heh heh," it chuckled. "Partner, just so you know, it's my sworn duty to side with the Hero of Justice in this," it informed me, apparently finding the idea of a swordsman who could willingly face an army of seventy thousand rolling around on the ground covered by giggling children to be to novel to resist.

"Alas," I sighed, moving into the field so there would be plenty of open ground. The flock of giggling boys drew ever closer, Gim at the front leading with an exuberant yell. "Even my weapon has betrayed me. Truly, it's a dark day for Evil Kings everywhere."

*Scene Break*

The battle was a long and fierce one. The Evil King was initially overwhelmed by the Band of Righteousness. However soon enough discord was sown through the ranks as Hero of Justice pronounced that he would be keeping the fair Princess to himself at the end. Shocked at the selfishness of their leader, several of the Band decided to fall sway to the dark side. It was half way through the battle between the remaining members of the Band of Righteousness and the newly created League of Evil, that supper was announced, and thus the war ended without conclusion.

Having apparently earned my right to be among them in their eyes, I spent the rest of the evening assisting the younger Tiffania, whom seemed grateful to have someone a bit older around to assist with the tasks of forcing a wild hoard of children to eat politely, clean themselves afterwards, and get to bed on time.

I had initially thought the ability to pick the children up regardless of size and age and manhandle them into their bed clothes and beds proper was a convenient ability to have. However, the children seemed to find it novel and amusing, and thus I got an even better workout lifting and maneuvering squirming giggling bundles then if I had stuck to cutting wood.

By the end of it all, the sun well below the horizon and my body feeling the pleasant ache of exertion, Tiffania and I sat peacefully before her fire place. The orphanage was a poor one, so there was little in the way of luxury items around like there were when I was staying at the academy, but somehow I managed to gather enough pots and pans in order to brew some tea for the two of us to share.

"You're very good with the children, Mr. Shirou," the elf girl complimented me, smiling kindly as she sipped her warm brew. Placing the cup back on the table, she turned her attention to the harp on her lap. It was a coarsely made but well used instrument. The wood of it gleamed in the firelight, worn smooth and glistening by the countless hours it had been caressed by the girl's hands as she played.

"I'm as surprised as you are," I admitted crookedly. I shrugged my shoulders, grimacing at the tightness of the muscles there. Leaning back on one of the few chairs in the room, I took a sip of the tea myself. It was too bitter, as much a result of the leaves themselves as the primitive brewing conditions I had been forced to labor on, but in the still lingering chill of the late winter night, it was good.

Stroking the harp absentmindedly, her delicate fingers plucking the strings occasionally while her other hand made minute adjustments to the pegs tightening or loosening as necessary, Tiffania continued, speaking shyly. "I was a bit scared at first, when I found you," she admitted, looking as though she was worried what response her confession would bring. "You were so bloody, and I had never seen wounds as bad as yours before. But now that you're healed you've been helping out so much, that I feel silly for having been frightened at first."

"I imagine," I murmured. "I must have been quite a sight when you found me dead in the woods." Tiffania started, looking surprised at my observation. Nervously, she plucked the strings again.

"Oh no!" she hurriedly declared. "You weren't dead! You were just very badly injured!" She had curled herself up tightly, and she twitched her gaze to the side and back, as though unable to look at me.

I sighed. "I don't know what craft you used to bring me back," I murmured. "But I know very well that I had lost my life." I threw my own gaze at her, and she still couldn't meet it. "It's alright. Your secrets are your own. I won't try to lure them out of you. It would a poor way to repay someone as kind as yourself." My assurance seemed to relax her and she uncurled herself, her fingers once more on the strings of the harp though this time they were surer. Occasionally she would pluck a few strings together, starting a melody before she would stop herself and begin adjusting another of the pegs.

"Thank you," she said to me, her head ducked. In the warm firelight, I could make out a small blush on her face. "Not just for that. Thank you for helping out with the children so much."

"It must be hard on you," I smiled gently, and she nodded slightly. For all her overwhelming compassion and kindness, it didn't change the fact that this girl was probably no more than seventeen years of age. Unless maybe her elf blood only made her look that way and she was actually thirty or something. Considering her demeanor and uncertainties though, I was fairly certain that the girl in front of me was younger than I was. Having someone older around to be able to rely on must be both a new and comforting experience for the poor girl.

"Not at all!" she declared instantly, looking up with earnest eyes. "It feels wonderful to be able to help people!" she declared it fervently. I raised an eyebrow and gave her a wry look. As the silence stretched between us, she blushed, and her gaze faltered. "Well," she admitted, once more curling up on herself as she voiced something I'm sure she had trouble admitting to herself. "Maybe just a little, sometimes."

"I'll have to leave eventually," I informed her, smiling to lighten the blow. Her ears drooped at my declaration. It was unusual to see something that was usually as unnoticeable as ears acting so expressively. "But I'm sure I can wait till at least mid spring. This is a good place for me to recover in, and it would be poor manners indeed if I didn't find some way to repay you for what you've done for me."

I'm certain she thought I meant helping with the children and maybe doing some repairs on the orphanage. I was thinking more about the roving bands of mercenaries. By mid spring the majority of them will have either moved on to the next war, or been put down for getting out of line in some nobles' territory.

Tiffania's ears perked up, and she beamed me a happy smile. Her fingers were tracing the harp more surely now, her tuning almost finished. "That's wonderful, Mr. Shirou!" she cried happily.

I couldn't help myself from chuckling slightly at her exuberance. Still. There was something on my mind, something I had been putting off for a while, something that I really should take care of.

"Tell me, Ms. Tiffania," I began, turning my attention to the tea in front of me. "Would you happen to know a woman by the name of Mathilda?"

"Ah!" the blond gasped, nearly dropping her harp as her hand unconsciously leapt to her mouth in startlement. "Mathilda? You know Mathilda?" she asked, the shock in her voice not quite enough to conceal the happiness that the name brought her as well.

On my back, Derflinger rustled in what I thought was surprise.

"We've met, on a few occasions," I say, knowing for sure that this was indeed the orphanage that Fouquet the "Crumbling Dirt" had spoken of. "On our last meeting, she wished for me to pass on a message for her. She said to tell you, 'Mathilda has found herself a man, and is living happily and peacefully.'" The news seemed to come as a relief to Tiffania. She sighed, a noise that was partially relieved, partially disappointed.

"That is good to hear. She has always been working so hard, sending money back here," she admitted. I stayed quiet, my tea in my hand as I listened. "When the money stopped coming a few months ago, I was worried that she might have tried something dangerous and gotten hurt." She looked down at her harp, with a gentle smile, before looking up again at me earnestly. "Is she happy? Is the man she found taking care of her?"

I hesitated. "The last time I saw her she looked very satisfied," I admitted. Tiffania nodded at my answer, not knowing that I was referring to the satisfaction Fouquet had got in knowing that I was going to kill the man who was responsible for her fate the same way I had killed her.

I wondered briefly if I should consider the man Fouquet had ended up with as either Wardes, whom had used her and died with her, or myself, whom had killed her with the sword that was even now on my back.

"That's good to hear," the elf girl concluded, relief over the happiness of what must have been a friend winning out over her disappointment of not receiving any more funds for the orphanage. She began to play her harp properly now, the conversation apparently over.

Tiffania was as skilled with her instrument as she was with her healing. The song that poured forth from the strings was gentle, yet poignant. It called to mind faces and images of places that I hadn't seen nor thought about for many years. It was as though it reached into the dark corners of my memory and brought forth all the things I had sworn I would never forget, and then forgotten anyway.

I listened, sipping my tea in silence, and pondered. I could have told her the truth. In fact, a part of me had wanted to intensely. That her supposed friend had been a thief, one of the most feared and hated in the land. That she had tried to kill three innocent and unarmed girls and myself I suppose. And for that I had pinned her to the earth with the sword that the elf girl herself had spoken to fondly and then cut her head off without mercy.

But that was only a small part of me, a vindictive and cruel part that rests in everyone. This girl whom had saved me, regardless of my feelings on the act, and then carefully nursed me back to health, who had welcomed me into her home, and into the lives of the children she watched over, she didn't deserve that kind of pain.

Lost in the music, I briefly remembered Issei Ryuudou, my long forgotten friend from the days of my youth. I wonder if the young monk in training had ever had as much trouble ridding himself of worldly desires as I was having right now.

"You know, partner," Derflinger spoke up. It seemed uncomfortable. The sword didn't understand humans that well, but I was grateful that it seemed to understand enough not to bring up what had truly happened to Tiffania's lost friend. "You never did thank the elf girl for saving your life."

I don't know if Tiffania was simply too lost in the music, or just being polite enough to ignore the conversation that I was certain her sharp ears could pick up.

"Oh?" I grunted non-concomitantly. "I suppose not."

Despite being called on it, I still voiced no gratitude.

And the song from the harp, the Serenade of Nostalgia, continued on late into the night.

*Scene Break*

It was nearly a week after that, in the midst of the turbulent conflict that had resulted once the Band of Righteousness had completely abandoned the Hero of Justice for the dark side which had been followed by the Hero of Justice using his power of good to redeem the Evil King so that he would stand by the Hero's side against the forces of the League of Evil, that a visitor arrived at the orphanage.

Tiffania had drafted the girl among the children to help her wash the laundry, though she had capitulated to the pleading eyes of the young ones to do the laundry in the clearing so they could watch the ongoing epic as it unfolded before them. It had quickly been ruled that sticks were not allowed in the play, and in order to limit the conflict to manageable terms I had informed the children that it was an ancient tradition amongst heroes and villains to have their confrontations one on one, and that tickling was a perfectly viable method of attack. And thus Gim and one of the younger children were both rolling around squealing with laughter as they fought valiantly to determine who would be the winner.

Naturally, the one on one rule didn't apply to me, and I was wrestling with three squirming masses of laughter myself at the same time. They had quickly discovered that I wasn't really very ticklish, and thus I had become an invincible juggernaut that they all had to band together to defeat, even as my own attacks were launched with ruthless efficiency.

It was right at the peak of the play that a voice called out from the edge of the clearing, startling just about everyone there but me. "You know, when I first received orders from Queen Henrietta to track you down, alive or dead, I had assumed that it would be difficult. I thought that it would involve endless weeks combing the valley, wearing the soles of my boots out as I rustled through the dirty wet underbrush trying to find your body. I had thought that you would be in some kind of crude hospital, half dead with sickness from wounds. I had even thought maybe I'd find you organizing some kind of conquering army to sweep back through Albion and finish the campaign yourself."

The children 'eeped' startled by the strange presence that had appeared before them. Tiffania had dropped the clothes she had been scrubbing, and had her soapy hands up to her face, covering her mouth in shock. Many of the kids backed away from the intruder, a woman robed in a heavy and padded green tunic, covered in chainmail, with a sword at her hip and a bandoleer of pistols across her chest, all covered with a royal blue cloak bearing the insignia of the Royal Family of Tristain. Now free of the bevy of excited young boys, I recovered myself into a sitting stance, slouching backwards onto my arms as I took in the newcomer's appearance.

The woman who had been watching at the edge of the clearing strolled in without hesitation, one hand on her hip, and a leering grin on her face. "I certainly didn't expect the hero of the Hills of Saxe-Gotha, the invincible swordsman who shattered an army of seventy thousand, the dread King of Swords himself to be in the first village I stopped by, and for lunch instead of searching nonetheless. And I doubt anyone in either country would ever expect someone so terrifying to be rolling around, playing with children in the dirt." The woman stopped in front of me and offered me a hand, still smiling crookedly. "How have you been, Shirou Emiya?"

I returned her grin with my own wry one, and took her arm as she pulled me to my feet. "Well enough, Chevalier Agnes. How about you? You look rather tired," I noted seeing the dark circles under the musketeer's eyes. "The princess…no you called her a queen now, so I suppose she finally got promoted… working you hard?" I gave her a brief once over as I asked, and then paused. "And just what in the name of the forgotten fourth miracle are you talking about? King of Swords?" I cocked my head not having any idea just what she was referring to.

"Oh, you know how it goes," the blond swordswoman said with a flippant shrug. Surrounding us, all the children and Tiffania were staring with wide eyes at the imposing woman before me who had shown up and named me with such impressive titles. "Conquering a nation is the easy part. The hard part is ruling it afterwards." She turned her eyes to the crowd surrounding me, before finally settling on the blond half elf, whom hadn't bothered to wear a concealing hat at the moment, and whose ears were twitching so rapidly they looked like a hummingbird's wings. "Now, if you don't mind me asking, just what is going on here?"

*Scene Break*

The three of us, Tiffania, Agnes, and myself, had retired to the elf girl's cottage in order to share our respective stories. As I described my circumstances, the lady knight had shed her cloak, weapons, and armor before joining me at the table. Tiffania sat there as well, though she looked intensely nervous as she did so, drooping low in her chair in order to make herself appear as small as possible while in the presence of the imposing swordswoman.

"Ah," she muttered, sipping the tea I had set about preparing as I talked gratefully. Now that she was sitting as well, Agnes was drooping herself. If the circles under her eyes were anything to judge by, she had most likely been worked to the breaking point these last two months. "So that's how it is."

She rubbed her shoulder while I nodded. "Now, it's your turn. Just what were you going on about back there?" Agnes sent me a smirking grin again, apparently enjoying my confusion. "All that tripe about being an 'invincible swordsman', and 'hero of Saxe-Gotha.'" I raised an eyebrow expectantly. "And especially that last little bit. 'King of Swords'?"

"Heh," Agnes grunted in amusement. Tiffania was quiet glancing back and forth between the two of us. She seemed inexplicably nervous for some reason. "Well, first off, you know how the campaign ended, right?"

I nodded. "After the Tristain forces were routed, Gallia showed up, blew up the Albion chain of command, and then elbowed its way into the previous alliance." I snorted. "Pretty clever. With almost no effort they get all the credit for winning a war. They were most likely in communication with Albion all the time. Probably claimed they would ally with them, and then double crossed them instead."

Agnes nodded briefly, a grimace on her face as she did so. This was a woman who preferred things straight up, be it a fight or a drink. All the sneaky under the table politics probably left as bad a taste in her mouth as it did mine. "Initially, when our forces managed to recover back in Tristain, Wimpfenn, that mewling idiot, claimed that the escape went so well solely due to his expert leadership." We both snorted at that. Wimpfenn couldn't lead a trail of ducklings, much less an army. "The Princess had no other intelligence on what was happening up here, and had been too busy reorganizing the army and preparing for a counter invasion again to look into it. When word finally got back that Albion was officially surrendering to us, it was necessary to start arranging an international conference so that all the countries could iron out the little details." She sipped her tea, rolling her shoulders again.

"Had to decide the best way to cut up the pie?" I supplied, and Agnes nodded again. Tiffania cocked her head to the side, obviously not following the conversation that was so full of strange names and foreign concepts.

"Naturally. Vulture politicians," the swordswoman spat the last bit out as though it were an oath every bit as vile as 'flame mages' in her mouth. "Initially once we arrived I was set with the duty of finding out just how the Albion army had managed to turn fully a third of our forces at Saxe-Gotha like they did."

"Any luck?" I asked. That had been one of the few points of the incident that actually had me genuinely curious. "I had thought it some kind of drug or enchantment, probably in the water supply," I put forth the conclusion that I had managed to scrape together with limited second hand information and shoddy memory.

Agnes glanced at me, a tired smile forming on her face. "Information is scarce, but that's the conclusion I had come to as well. However, while investigating I began to hear some pretty interesting rumors." Here her eyes narrowed a bit. "Rumors of Tristain summoning some kind of demon, or an elf or something equally preposterous." Tiffania winced, her ears drooping like a puppy at the word 'elf'. Agnes glanced over, taking in the noticeable feature, and then turning away without a reaction. "The rumors were that whatever it was that was there it had been invincible, moving too fast to be seen, and shrugging off injuries like they never happened." Here, here eyebrow quirked. "They say that whatever it was, it hated mages, only killing the nobles."

I shrugged at the comment which had been half curiosity, half accusation. "Not really. I only killed the chain of command. Since they were mostly mages, I can see where the rumors came from."

Agnes cocked her head, taking note of my confession. Her eyes went a bit distant as she correlated the new information with all the rumors she had no doubt gathered. She nodded slowly. "The chain of command. I see." She nodded again, this time more surely. "Yes, that would make sense. What about the other rumor?" Head still cocked she continued. "The one about how you only cut off the sword arms of all the others?" Tiffania was staring at me. Apparently the news of my ability to murder and maim at will didn't mesh well with her view of me as a polite guest, one who would willing allow himself to get ambushed by little orphans without hesitation and sneak off while still wounded in order to cut wood for her.

"Well," I began, shrugging self consciously. "I was only trying to delay the army long enough for our forces to retreat. I figured that nothing slows down an army like the injured. I decided that every soldier they were forced to care for was another soldier tied up taking care them. Water mages could have healed things like stab wounds and slashes, but a severed limb? That would really make an impression." I grimaced. "And it wasn't just sword arms," I corrected. "I also aimed for fingers and legs." That really made Tiffania wince.

"Heh," Agnes grinned at me. "Well, whatever the reason, the rumor was that you were so proud of your swordsmanship, that in order to punish anyone who wasn't up to your standards you made it so they could never raise a sword in your presence again." She leered, enjoying how the information and rumors were all coming together, and I grimaced, uncomfortable with the way my reputation was growing. "The end result was everyone agreeing that you were some kind of vengeful blademaster, maybe the ghost of one of the now dead Albion royal family."

I groaned. "I can see where this is going. Since they lost so badly, it's easier to think that rather than their own skills being poor, mine were just that good. And thus I must be a king." I shook my head ruefully.

"Eh, Partner," Derflinger spoke up, sounding amused. "How's it feel, being the King of Swords?"

I groaned again. "Well, I've known a King of Knights and a King of Kings before. I guess as nicknames go it could be a lot worse." I put my head down into my hands, ignoring my tea. "I'm turning into an Anti-Hero, aren't I?" I groaned to the heavens. Somewhere out there, I'm certain a certain red and black robed Counter Guardian was laughing at me. Root damn him, be he at the Throne of Hero's or otherwise.

Agnes and Tiffania both looked curious at my confession. In the end, Agnes continued, sipping her tea again. "Well, after the conference began properly, the Queen heard from the surrendering General just what happened outside of Saxe-Gotha. About how you destroyed three companies, a third of their supply train, and set fully a tenth of their army into confusion. By the end of it, you had managed to delay the army's advance by close to a week as they tried to figure out just what had happened, and tried to determine if we had anything else like you in reserve." Agnes grimaced again. "If we had that information while retreating we might not have even needed to leave the island entirely. We probably could have fortified at Rosais and waited for resupply." Shaking her head, she continued her story. "The General even showed the Queen the scar you gave him. He said that after you missed his neck, you managed to escape into the woods."

"Well," I muttered, "as long as I made a good impression." I didn't tell her that I hadn't escaped into the wood. It hadn't been till I had recovered enough to wake up that I had learned what had happened. I had succumbed to the wounds I had taken, barely having enough strength for the last attack at the general before passing out. It had been Derflinger that had saved me. It had finally remembered another of its abilities: it used the magic it had consumed over the course of our battles to forcibly posses me, controlling me like a puppet and dragging my body to safety even as I was bleeding out. Once there, it had been Tiffania who had finished my rescue, brining my body back to life once more.

Agnes was definitely grinning at that. "He wasn't certain if you were dead, escaped, or just waiting in the woods to attack again. One of the conditions he brought to the Queen at the negotiation table is that she call you off." Tiffania was once more staring at me, and a quiet noise from the window caused me to glance over. It looked like Gim had been listening in on the conversation. Judging by his wide eyes, I think I just might have made a fan for life. "I definitely call that an impression," Agnes concluded.

"So then what happened?" I asked, and then scowled. "Please tell me that you had that idiot Wimpfenn beaten with a stick?" I growled the last bit out. Wise tactical decision or not, I was nowhere near ready to forgive that pompous wind bag for ordering Louise to die so he could save the army.

"Not yet," Agnes admitted, sharing my distaste for the former Chief of Staff. "But certain reprimands for failing to accurately report his actions were in the process when I was dispatched. After the new information came to light, Queen Henrietta had called me in and sent me to find you. I was to confirm you as either dead or bring you back if you were alive." Throwing back her tea, the musketeer stood up again. "I suppose we have you to thank for the living part, ma'am," she addressed the half elf abruptly.

"Ah! It was nothing," Tiffania stuttered back, still not sure how to respond to the abrupt and direct swordswoman. Agnes regarded her carefully.

"Elf?" she asked, sounding as though she were discussing the weather rather than identifying one of the most fearsome races on the continent.

"Half," Tiffania stuttered in response, her ears drooping further. The buxom girl looked like she was about to collapse in fear over what the confession would mean for her.

"Ah," Agnes muttered in confirmation, and then dismissed the girl completely. The response seemed to startle Tiffania.

"You're not scared?" she whimpered, her curiosity overcoming her worry. Agnes dismissed her off hand.

"I'm not in the habit of being scared by those who show no malice," she told her bluntly. I nodded at her assessment. It was one I could agree with. Honestly, out of everyone I had met since arriving in this world, Agnes was the one whom I most easily identified with. The swordswoman continued. "Very well then." Standing she reached over again to reclaim her chainmail. Once it was back on she unknotted a medium sized pouch from the securing belt and tossed it onto the table before Tiffania. The elf girl jumped slightly as the pouch jingled, the draw sting at the top loosening enough for a spill of gold coins to spread across the table. "We are indebted to you, miss," Agnes said, shrugging the rest of her supplies on. "Though it's not much, please take this as a token of our gratitude." The tumble of gold was probably enough to keep the orphanage running in good condition for half a year. Turning, the swordswoman addressed me. "Let's go then."

Tiffania 'eeped' at the abruptness as Agnes made her way to the door. When she opened it, she discovered that I hadn't moved from my seat. "Well?" she asked, sounding impatient. "It's still early enough to make decent ground on our way to Londinium."

"Actually," I admitted, sipping my tea. "I'm not planning on leaving yet."

"Eh?" both of the blonds said at once, Agnes sounding disapproving and Tiffania sounding grateful.

"For one thing," I began, ticking off on my fingers as I began to list my reasoning, "I promised Ms. Tiffania that I would stay until at least mid-spring to help out around the orphanage."

Agnes eyebrows drew together. "It's good to want to repay your debt, but the gold should be enough to make up for the lack of your presence," she pointed out. She sounded a lot less congenial now then when she had laughingly been revealing my reputation a few minutes ago. She was first and foremost the queen's woman after all, and my refusal to obey Henrietta's order no doubt didn't sit well with her.

"There are services I provide here that aren't easily replicated with gold," I informed her. Glancing briefly at Tiffania, I purposely worded my next sentence vaguely. "You are of course aware of just what happens when an army loses and mercenaries don't get paid, aren't you?"

Agnes eyes narrowed further as she puzzled out my sentence, and then they briefly widened. Leaning against the door, her eyes moved to the lovely young half elf. Tiffania looked nervous as the swordswoman's eyes traced her up and down, and then glanced back at the gold as well. "I see," she muttered, grimacing. Tiffania enough would be a tempting target for the raiders, but with the gold as well it would pull even those who wouldn't want to waste their effort on just a woman. Turning back to me she asked, "Have there been many so far?"

"Five," I said shortly. "Frequency is dropping, but it's not all clear yet." The last group of raiders who had targeted the orphanage had been the largest yet at sixteen. Four of them had been survivors of Saxe-Gotha as well. It had taken me nearly an entire night to dispose of them all, and I had been exhausted enough the next day that I had slept clear to noon.

"Um," Tiffania started, her ears perking up a bit in curiosity. "What are you two talking about?" She cocked her head to the side, and put her hands under her chin, her eyes wide with innocent wonder. Agnes winced at the sight of it. There was no doubt in the swordswoman's mind that yes, this naive girl would indeed be a prime target for the scum wandering the land at the moment.

"She doesn't know?" Agnes turned back to me with her question. I shook my head silently. When Agnes saw Tiffania cocking her head to the side, little question marks almost visibly floating around her, Agnes winced a bit again and finally concluded, "Don't worry about it. It looks like Shirou's been taking good care of it so far, and its nothing to be concerned about." With a reluctant pout, the half elf nodded.

"Beyond that," I continued, "I'd like to take it easy for a bit while I recover. I was flat on my back for nearly a month before I could walk, and my body's suffered as a result." I grimaced as I rotated my shoulders a bit, still feeling their lingering tightness. Agnes nodded at that too, her face pulling back in grimace of her own in sympathy. Whether or not my wounds had recovered, that long without exercise meant I had probably lost a good bit of endurance. Having a quiet secluded place to regain my strength at was probably a lot safer than in the public eye. I had little doubt if I were to suddenly appear again there would be quite a few people looking for a chance to avenge a limb or two. Not to mention the rumors. Now that I knew how bad they'd gotten I figured I'd give them plenty of time to die down until something more interesting took their place.

"And even when I've fully recovered, there's a few loose ends I want to finish up here in Albion before I get dragged back to Tristain," I concluded. Since I was here it was as good a chance as any to get down to some serious adventuring and get back a certain ring for a certain Water Spirit.

"I don't like keeping my queen waiting," Agnes informed me stiffly; definitely the kind of woman who took her duty seriously.

I gave her a crooked grin. "Yes. 'Your' queen. Henrietta already knows that my allegiance lies not with her. She'll understand." That seemed to set Agnes on edge a bit. She ground her teeth for a moment before relaxing with a sigh.

"Aye," she admitted finally, slumping down. "She knows well where you stand." Still slouched the lady knight studied me more closely. "And what about that little spitfire of yours? Is it fine for you to be letting your Master wait like this?"

I sat silently, ignoring both the interrogating blond and the now thoroughly confused blond. "That…" I began, trailing off. "That's complicated," I finally told her, looking up to meet Agnes' eyes.

The swordswoman took a moment to study my resolve, and then sighed again. "Well then, if that's your choice, I think my course of action is clear," she declared, moving her hand back to her sword. Tiffania 'eeped', scooting her chair back furiously. Agnes cut an intimidating figure in her full regalia, and Tiffania was just a commoner. All commoners know how dangerous it can be to disappoint a noble, even if they were just a swordswoman and not a mage. Instead of drawing her sword, Agnes began to unbuckle it again. "I'll just have to stick around for a week or two to try and convince you to come back," she declared as she propped her blade back up on the wall.

"Ah. Stick around for a week or two?" Tiffania stuttered, looking nervously between the two of us.

Agnes nodded, looking weary. "The queen wasn't expecting me back for two or three weeks anyway. Honestly? I could use a small vacation myself." She reached into her rucksack and pulled out a sack of wine. Holding up her cup she gestured it at me. "Fill me up?"

With a grin, I poured half a cup of tea. When she took her wine to fill it the rest of the way up, she grinned when she found my own half empty cup next to hers.

"Um," Tiffania began, looking confused. "Is it really okay to start drinking so early in the day?" she finally managed to get out, watching in confusion as the two of us tossed back our drinks quickly.

In response, we made sure to pour a third cup for her the next time.

*Scene Break*

It was much later at night, as I sat on the stump that I used to cut wood, that Agnes once more approached me. Poor Tiffania. She had tried so hard to keep up with her elders, but when it comes down to it Agnes and I are definitely not the kind of people you want to use as role models; unless you're some kind of sociopath or something that is. The poor little half elf was snoozing happily in less than two hours as she tried to keep pace with us swordspersons. Sadly, that had resulted in me and Agnes having to take care of the children when it came bed time. I had garnered enough experience to manage, but the dedicated career swordswoman that she is, Agnes had been a sheep before wolves.

And so it was, halfway sober by the time it was finished, that the frazzled swordswoman came to join me. The sky had darkened by then, and the chill of lingering winter was harsh in the air. Still, the contrast between the weather and the wine was enough to make the drinking rewarding in its own right.

"When I first saw you rolling around on the dirt with those little brats, I had honestly thought you were getting soft," she started the conversation, perching herself next to me on the stump. Her hair was a mess, and her green padded tunic had taken what looks like milk on it at some point during her epic battle with the young girls. "Now, I can see your true purpose behind it."

"And that is?" I asked, already expecting her response and trying to contain a leering grin. Agnes swiped the wine skin that I had been drinking directly from and took a long swig of her own.

"An unorthodox but brutal training regime," she told me, smacking her lips as she swallowed the wine. "If you're just that masochistic, now that I'm here I can just beat you with a stick until you're back in shape." I reached for the wine skin and she scowled at me, taking another long drag from it. It seems like the experience had truly opened her eyes to just what it means to care for children. I had a feeling she had probably sworn them off entirely after that.

"I might take you up on that," I told her wryly. "It's been a while since I've had an experienced sparring partner. I've been trying to see how much I've slipped by cleaning up the bandits, but they make poor sport in the end." I reclaimed the wine skin. "Especially the veterans of Saxe-Gotha. They keep shrieking and running away." I took a long pull of my own while Agnes laughed at my dry observation.

"I can imagine they would!" she crowed, still chuckling.

The two of us sat together in companionable silence as the night stretched around us. The day was warm enough to melt the snow that usually covered the landscape of the floating island, but not so warm that the night didn't quickly reclaim it afterwards. Frost was already blossoming on the leafless trees around us. As we passed the wine skin back and forth between us, our breath dyed the darkness around us white with each exhale.

"Oi," the swordswoman finally started. "Shirou. Lend me your ear for a minute?" Agnes tone had changed. I glanced over at her. Previous experience in drinking with her had revealed that as more wine flowed she only grew more and more gregarious. The woman sitting beside me had been drinking since near noon. She should be braying red faced laughter and competing with Derflinger over who could tell the dirtiest joke. I sighed. It seemed even the happiest of drunks could wax maudlin if the situation was right. The Agnes beside me had a closed expression, her eyes staring into the dark and lost in thought.

"Aye," I tell her. "Speak and I'll hear."

She sat in silence for a few moments, composing her thoughts. Finally she seemed to decide on something, and nodded her head to herself. "I want to tell you a story. It should sound pretty familiar to you, but don't interrupt me. At the end, I want you to tell me what you think. After that, I don't ever want to hear about it again. That sound doable to you?" She gave me a glance from the corner of her eyes, her expression tight.

"So long as you don't hog the wine skin, that sounds just fine," I told her bluntly, taking my turn at the much diminished container. She gave me a small crooked grin of her own, waited till her turn, took her own sip, resumed looking into the dark, and started talking.

"A long time ago," she began, "there was a girl who lived in a small town. She was very young. One night, she woke up to find her home on fire." Agnes took another sip, and then seemed to remember her promise and passed the skin to me. I took it without looking at her, my own gaze lost in the dark of the night. "She cried for her mommy, and cried for her daddy, and cried for her sister, but no one came. Finally, before she burned up, she ran away."

I said nothing, and handed the wineskin back to her. She threw it back, returned it, folded her hands on her knees, still staring into the dark, and continued.

"The girl found the whole village on fire too. She ran and ran, until she couldn't run any more, and then she fell. She thought she was going to die, just like her family, and closed her eyes."

The wine skin made another lap. Agnes continued.

"She woke up later. She didn't know how long had passed, but she was on someone's back. She never saw their face, she was still half delirious. But she remembered the large burn on the persons back as he carried her to safety. She fell unconscious again, and the next time she woke up she was in a neighboring village. Whoever had saved her had paid for her treatment and for one of the families there to take care of the girl till she grew older."

The both of us sat quietly. Without looking at each other, without needing words, the wine passed again between us. Smacking her lips again, Agnes picked back up.

"The girl grew up, and swore vengeance. She learned how to use a sword, got good at it too. She got good enough that she was able to catch the eye of the princess of her land, and made a deal with her. The deal was that if the princess found the ones responsible for the girl's family dying like they did, so many years ago, that the girl, now a woman, would serve her for the rest of her life. And the princess delivered. One by one, the woman found each of the ones responsible for the fire, and killed them all, no matter who they were. Until there was only one left. When the woman found the last one, when she was getting ready to kill him like she had the others, she saw the burn on the man's back, and realized that he had been the one to save her in the first place. She learned that the man hadn't known what he was doing, that he thought the girl's village had been consumed by the plague, that he had to burn the village in order to save others. When the man had realized that he had been lied to, that they were using him to cull an innocent village in the name of politics and expedience, he charged back into the flames, trying to save as many as he could. In the end, he could only save me."

The words drifted into the dark. Even if she hadn't wanted me to stay silent, I would have. There are some memories that are always just a little too strong, memories that lingered no matter how deep you tried to bury them. In me, those memories were never quite as deep as others: the fires that claimed my home, the battles, and the wars. Other horrors too: the feel of the hands of a homunculi as they clutched mine as the poor girl's hands went limp as her short magically charged life ended, the reeking dampness of a basement of a church piled high with the suffering bodies of others whom had been deprived of their families by fire and then sacrificed like goats on the alters of ancient vengeful gods.

Watching all my friends leave one by one, unable to bear my presence any longer: me always going forward, and them not able to keep pace.

Even Rin, in the end.

"In the end, the woman had a choice," Agnes' voice whispered through the cold air, crisp and clear despite its softness. "She could kill the man like all the others whom had been responsible, or she could spare him for saving her, and then spending the rest of his life trying to atone for the crime he had committed unaware." Agnes took the wineskin from me, and dragged at it long and hard. "She made a choice. The opinion I want from you, was which one she should have taken."

The wineskin now in my hand, I rolled it back and forth gently as I pondered. There was very little fluid left, and it gurgled as it shifted. "What a stupid question," I finally answered. "That woman was that woman, just like I and me. Right answers, wrong answers, what is just and what is evil. Those are the foolish woolgathering of useless naïve poets." I threw the wine back, pulling hard on it. I didn't bother to look at Agnes to see her reaction. "In the end, the woman would simply look at her life, look over her options, and choose the one that is right for her. Even if later, time and new information would cause her to think that she had made the wrong one, at that moment, and with all she knew at the time, she would have made the best one for her. Even if she should think it the wrong one later, at least she should know that at the time she made it for the right reasons."

Silence descended on the clearing. For an endless eternity it lasted, though it could have just been an hour, or maybe even a minute, or just possibly only a few moments.

Agnes snorted, breaking the moment entirely. Snatching the wine back, she drank heartily. "Aye!" she declared boldly, her once soft voice now filled with cheer. "Aye, that she did!" She stood, pivoting to stand before me and giving the skin back as she leered. "Now that that useless talk is out of the way, what say we head back to a fire? I think I have a second skin laying about somewhere, and the night is still too young for sleeping!" Once again, just as before, the blond swordswoman offered me her arm.

A crooked grin stretched on my own face as I reached out to take the offered limb. "Aye indeed," I snorted. "It would be a crime to let it go to waste. Afterwards," I raised an eyebrow, my smile growing wicked. "What say we have a little fun?"

The swordswoman leaned back, her cheeks flushed with drink as she leered at me. "Oh? And what did you have in mind, oh King of Swords?" Her eye's moved over me, tracing my frame.

My smile turned even wickeder. "I noticed a scouting party earlier. What say we take care of number six after we're properly sloshed?"

Agnes eyes narrowed in confusion before she finally got the reference I was making. "Oh!" she squealed in delight. "You lead a girl on thinking she's going to get some action, and then you turn around and offer something even better! You charmer you," she crowed in delight as the two of us headed back to Tiffania's small cottage.

*Scene Break*

_ For two months, Louise could hardly bare to sleep. Those who knew of this problem thought it nightmares. They thought that the loss of the strange and somewhat frightening swordsman, the tall and often fearsome Servant whom had been like a shadow stretching behind her at dusk, was what haunted her nighttime hours._

_ They were wrong. If Louise had dreamed of Shirou, than it would have been a relief to her. Instead, she dreamed of her dead fiancé, comforting her on a boat on a lake at her family manor. She dreamed of the princess, now queen, giving her medals and honor. She dreamed of little fluffy animals._

_ It had been so long since she had dreamed of these things that she didn't know how to deal with them anymore. _

_ Still, time moved on. Guiche and several of the other boys whom had served in the queen's army during the invasion received much admiration from those who hadn't. Classes went on, grades were awarded, and knowledge was acquired._

_ Still, there were a few that time seemed to touch more lightly than others. Guiche would occasionally find himself standing in a courtyard, a wooden practice sword in hand, wondering what was he was doing there. Montmorency would sometime glance out a window when it rained, see the water pouring down, and glance away, wondering whether what she felt was relief that the one who frightened her so was gone, or regret that someone who had done so much could no longer do anymore._

_Tabitha would sometime be seen with her book in her lap, closed, and her eyes gazing at nothing. Both Sylphid and Flame would spend hours laying in the sun, not moving, gazing to the west, waiting. Even Kirche, whom had taken to Professor Colbert with a passion every bit as equaled as the passion she had taken to Shirou, would sometime smolder quietly, and sometime rage hotly, often times with no warning which route she was going to take._

_ Professor Colbert, his past now revealed would spend hours sometimes just staring at the dust gathering on the Zero fighter. Whether his thoughts drifted to his now revealed sordid past, or to the student from another world that he had shared so much knowledge with, was something he never revealed._

_ Louise tried many things to help her rest. She dabbled in drinking for a bit, but found that even if it did give her dreamless sleep, she just didn't have the constitution to shrug it off the next day. She might have continued anyway, but the marks it left on her, her slowness of thought, her slovenliness in her hangovers, she just couldn't bear them. She was a Valliere, she was a noble. She would not let herself descend into that pit._

_ Instead, she focused on her studies. In class there was no one quicker with an academic answer, even if Louise herself couldn't manipulate the element in question. And outside of class, she delved deep and hard into the void within her, experimenting, learning, and mastering her element inch by inch. And when she would drag herself back from the clearing she steadfastedly refused to abandon, the clearing she had learned together with her gone Shirou, she would find the other one affected by her Servant's loss waiting for her to take her to her room and help her clean up before bed. _

_ Because no matter how long it was, Siesta was patient. With absolute faith, the maid continued to wait. No matter what anyone said, be they commoner of noble, the country girl would not be swayed from her unshakable certainty that Shirou was okay, and that he would be back. _

_ Louise, though she would not admit it to anyone but the maid herself if she ever asked, found herself relying on that faith in the face of her own doubts._

_ And when the day came that Siesta finally confronted her, demanding that they go and look for him, and see just what it was that was holding Shirou up so much from returning, despite her own misgivings, Louise agreed._

_ The next day, noble and commoner, daughter of duke and simple castle maid, set out to Albion._

_ They would find the missing Servant, living or dead. If he was dead, than they would bring his body back and see to it he would have a proper burial._

_ And if he was alive, he better have a damn good reason for worrying the two girls._


	16. Distant Utopia: The Sixteenth night

Hill of Swords: Distant Utopia: the Sixteenth night

Author's note: Once more, while drifting through my reviews, I found one that truly struck me to my core. Unfortunately, this one was one I could not truly argue against, and thus was forced to confront directly.

To the one who'll know who I'm talking about, you'll know who you are, you're right. I do tend to give away spoilers in my author's notes!

And well, sorry, but I'm still gonna keep them at the front of my chapter instead of the back. I considered switching over to putting my author's notes at the end, but well, I always hate as I'm excitedly reading my way through a story thinking there's going to be even more, and then finding a bunch of rebuttal's to review at the end. It always made me feel cheated, like there should be more writing, but instead there's just extra stuff. So, I shall continue to put my author's notes at the beginnings. Though, in deference to your point, I will be sure to mark my notes with spoiler references. In fact, it might be a better idea for readers to just skip to the *Story Start* line first, and then come back and read these notes.

Anyway. About this chapter. Oh yes. *Spoiler Alert!*

First and foremost, I have to say I think of this as primarily Shirou's Chapter. His interactions are mostly secondary, and almost the entire thing is focused on his personal thoughts and feelings. I've gotten reviews from a few readers about how they're unfamiliar with F/sn in general and this will probably explain a whole lot more to them in general than to those familiar with both series. For those who do know F/sn, let me know what you think of the characterization. I tried to keep it in character with a Shirou who isn't quite Archer yet, but still has moved beyond his original self.

Though a great deal of this chapter is based around Shirou, there is one other element that I wouldn't mind hearing an opinion on. That is, of course, Sheffield. I'm trying to lead to something specific here, so I have taken a few liberties with her character. I like to think that they're actually cannon justified, but I'm willing to admit I might have changed her around a good deal more than most have anticipated. More will come up in later chapters that might explain this difference, so keeping an open mind might help, but if any of you want to vent, feel free. If it's something related to a story point I have planned, I'll know that I'm keeping you on the edge of your chairs. If it's something I honestly overlooked, then I'll keep an eye out to correct it later.

And finally, more cookies for those who can identify three things in this story! The first, Dollmaster's Mace. The second, who is Lemarchand? The third, and probably the easiest, Sheffield's Doll's.

Anyone who can do it without using google get's milk as well! Be honest!

As always, if you like it, let me know. If there's something you're not sure about, let me know again. And if there's something you don't like, point it out, politely as possible!

Now, on with the chapter! It's another one of those super long ones by the way.

*Story Start*

"Oi oi!" Agnes taunted me as she once more parried the stick in my hand with the one in hers easily. "Come on, King of Swords! It's too early in the day to be this slow!"

My strike stopped, I twisted the surrogate blade in my hand to return the favor. Muscles, aching with the effort of getting reacquainted with the stress of battle, barely managed to make it in time. "You know, you don't have to call me that constantly," I grit out to her, blocking her flurry of blows with ever slowing strikes. For a brief moment I was tempted to reinforce my limbs, in order to increase my success rate, but in the end managed to restrain myself. This wasn't a battle I was trying to win by any means necessary. This was me relearning my body and the feel of a blade in my hands.

"What's that, King of Swords?" she showed her teeth at me in a grin. "I can't hear you over the sound of me beating you!"

I snorted, not rising again to the taunt. Instead I forced my attention onto my next move, my concentration sharpening as I regained my focus. It was one of my firmer beliefs that in battle there shouldn't be words. Just like I had drilled into Guiche, every breath wasted on banter was one that should have been poured into the blade in your hand. Agnes on the other hand held a very different philosophy. The woman was relentless, taunting every move I made, mocking everything about me from my features to my parentage. Honestly, though it was a strategy that ran counter to my own, in her sharp tongue it was an effective technique. The time she had asked me how good I was in the sack had nearly made me drop my blade in surprise, an opening she took whole hearted advantage of.

It was a prime example of the way the musketeer fought in general. She used every advantage, every mean trick, every dirty and low blow without a second's hesitation, and she used them well to boot. I imagine it was something she used to compensate for the two biggest disadvantages she must have faced while learning. The first was her femininity. For all the fact that I was a firm believer in equality between the sexes, especially in battle, it didn't change the fact that as a woman Agnes was just smaller of frame then me. I must have outweighed her by at least fifty pounds, probably much more. I was also nearly a head taller than her, and my arms had the reach to match. I'm probably not the first opponent she came across that should have had all the physical advantages on her, and she fought with practiced technique against it.

The second disadvantage was the fact that regardless of title or skill, Agnes was still a 'commoner'; she had no magic at all. In a world where any young pup with a wand and the right parentage and tutelage could launch fireballs and razor wind at her she had learned every trick in the book for provoking a reaction. A mage that was busy trying to defend themselves against a taunt is a mage that wasn't trying to chant a spell.

As I countered her quick flurry of blows, fast and dangerous strikes aimed at cutting various parts of my limbs and hampering my movement rather than lethal shots, I freely acknowledged that despite her free usage of the tactic, Agnes was by no means just a dirty fighter.

The woman knew her sword in ways I hadn't even begun to aspire too.

It was a side effect of my own training regime. Like I had told Louise nearly a year ago, it just didn't make sense for me to focus on one type of blade; I just had too many of them to over specialize. I made a solid and very thorough effort to know as many as I could as well as I could, but Agnes was different. The sword she carried was the only one that ever found its way into her hand. She knew every inch of it, wielded it like it was just another sharper limb for her.

More than that, she was an expert of reading the battle field. She didn't stop with just the blade in her hand or the guns on her bandoleer. She used every gnarled root in the field as a target to try and maneuver me into to trip me, every tree that she was backed into to block a strike and free her own blade to return the attack.

I could only feel admiration for the green eyed blond I was exchanging blows with in that regard. She had truly sharpened herself into a blade every bit as keen as myself.

That wasn't to say that the respect wasn't mutual either. That first night she had arrived when we had, still drunk, crashed a party of nine mercenaries and taken care of them easily she too had seen my style. She knew damn well that what I lacked in specialization I more than made up for in diversity.

One of the reasons she was grinning so fiercely as she finally managed to disarm me, a maneuver she was especially good at seeing as the best way to stop a mage was to take their wands, was joy in watching me battle her at her terms. She knew for a fact that if I wanted to then every strike I made could have a new range, a new weight, and a new peril. She knew for a fact that if I needed to I could boost my speed instantly, I could harden my skin to take her blows, that I could increase my strength at will. She also knew that while I was practicing, regardless of whether or not it would have meant my victory, that I would not use those skills.

It was one of the reasons she made sure to taunt me so fiercely, and fight so dirtily. She wanted to provoke me into breaking my unspoken decision to match her at her level. So far she had failed to make me deviate from that choice.

Despite the fact that so far I haven't managed to win a single one of our spars.

In the end our styles were nearly exact opposites of each other: one implacable silence and focus while the other distractions and maneuvering, one the jack of all trades and the other an ace.

With her practice sword pointed at my throat, I raised my hands with a sigh. "Your victory," I acknowledged. Both of us were breathing hard. For all that I hadn't won a single one of our spars yet, that didn't change the fact that regardless of the difference in skill and my own rapidly recovering physical condition I was by no means a slouch myself. If anything I had nearly as much experience fighting an opponent with overwhelming advantage as she did. Many of her tactics were based around the assumption that her opponent had superior ranged capabilities and would most likely attempt to retreat so they could use them, so a big habit of hers was to close as rapidly as possible. On the other hand, several of my older habits was assuming that the person I was facing would have superior skills in hand to hand and attempt to close to use them, so I found myself reusing techniques of the past in order to counter.

Needless to say our sparring rapidly achieved levels that most people would be hard pressed to match unless the whole incident was choreographed and they had been practicing for a month or so.

"Ah!" several of the children watching cried out excitedly, clapping enthusiastically as the show came to an end. Also needless to say was that the moment the children got wind of our practices we had had a regular audience for them over the past week or so.

"Yeah! Auntie Agnes won!" the little redhead that had latched onto her Princess Tiffania upon the original commencement of the "Hero of Justice Chronicles" happily toddled her way onto the field to give the victor a hug. Agnes blushed lightly, trying to surreptitiously shake the child of her leg. The swordswoman really just didn't know how to handle kids, and it showed quite plainly. Her attempts to free herself were rapidly hampered by a small swarm of other similarly impressed girls who joined in until the poor blond was hemmed in from all sides.

"Shirou," she snapped at me. "Get them off!" Agnes panicked as she tried her best to get away from her adoring fans without hurting them by accident.

"To the victor the spoils," I told her with a dry half smile. Unfortunately the greeting I received afterwards was considerably less warm.

"Uncle Shirou!" Gim wailed, looking once more completely disappointed in me. "How could you lose to a girl?" he demanded. He might be at the age where he was just beginning to notice that girls might be a bit more interesting than just another kind of friend, but he still hadn't shaken loose the long standing notions that they also had cooties.

"Gim," Tiffania scolded from the side of the clearing where she was helping another young boy clean mud off himself while bandaging a skinned knee. "Don't be so rude!" She smiled at me in apology. It seemed my continuous losses at the hand of our visitor had brought about two very important changes in the group dynamics. The first was that I had lost a great deal of the street cred that my apparent new title 'The King of Swords' had imparted to the boys. The second was that Tiffania had begun to firmly believe that the rumors were entirely blown out of proportion as she too succumbed to the common misconception that men are generally stronger than women.

"But he keeps loosing!" Gim protested, trying desperately to salvage the hero worship that he had begun to lose faith in. Finally he scowled and declared, "Uncle Shirou must be letting her win!" He pointed his finger at me in accusation.

"Gim!" Tiffania scolded again, trying to impart manners to the willful boy, even as Agnes' eyes narrowed and she let loose a little scowl. The swordswoman was aware of just how much I was holding back, but she was also aware that regardless of my self-imposed limitations when I was on the field against her I was fighting with all I had.

I decided to take care of this before it could grow out of proportion. Kneeling in front of the boy I grasped him by the shoulders and spoke solemnly. "Gim. You must always be polite to girls," I admonished him gently.

He folded his arms turned away with a grimace. "Why should I listen to a guy who keeps getting beat up by girls?" he snapped at me like the child he was.

Ruefully, I shook my head. It was time, as I was most likely to be the most biggest male role model of the boy's life, to impart what would most probably be the most important advice the boy will ever receive. "You should always be polite because there are two kinds of women in the world," I began, and the boy cracked his eye back to me, apparently willing to listen. "The first kind is the ones who are very gentle and nice, like big sis Tiffania," I nodded at the half elf who blushed a bit at my praise, and Gim reluctantly nodded. "If you're not polite to them, then they won't like you. You don't want big sis Tiffa not to like you, do you?" I leveled a knowing eye at the boy, and he blushed and looked down at the ground in embarrassment.

"No," he finally admitted, his face glowing red. I nodded sagely.

"The second type of girl," I continued, "Is like Auntie Agnes," I nodded at the swordswoman who looked like she was trying to divide her attention between my impromptu lesson and the squirming mass of admiring girls who were trying to get hugs. "They're the really strong and brave kind that can fight just as good or better as any man." Gim nodded slowly, apparently not willing to take my words at face value, but at least it appeared as though I still had some credibility left with the boy. "Now remember, always be polite because if you're not they'll beat you up."

Apparently the speech I delivered was less than impressive to the two models I had used for my division of the female gender. Tiffania was pouting at me, her ears pressed tight against her head in displeasure, and Agnes was giving me a very dry look that promised me next time we fought she wouldn't be stopping with just holding a stick to my neck. She'd probably end up breaking it over my head if I was any judge of her mood.

Gim on the other hand had a look that let me know he was still on the fence with my explanation. "Are there really that many girls who can beat me up?" he asked me petulantly. He crossed his arms stubbornly as he waited for me to offer some proof that yes, there really were woman out there like I was describing.

With a sigh I bowed my head. "Oh yes," I assured him. "I've met quite a few in my time." My lips quirked in a nostalgic smile at that statement. "Quite a few," I repeated in order to emphasize just how many I had met.

In recollection, it was amusing just how many of them had been a great deal shorter than me despite being a good bit more powerful than me.

"Like who?" the stubborn boy demanded, stomping his foot.

"How about someone like Karin the 'Heavy Wind'?" I supplied with a raised eyebrow. I knew that Louise's mother was famous in Tristain, but I wasn't sure if the legend had spread far enough to reach an isolated orphanage on a floating island.

Apparently, it had. Gim's eyes shot open and he rubbed his chin childishly with one hand. "Ah!" he declared, suddenly having some perspective about just what I meant about women out there being stronger than he had thought. He wasn't the only one. Agnes, still up to her hips in babbling admiring girls cracked her own grin at that, and Tiffania finally let her pout turn back to a smile. It looked like I had managed to finish the lecture on a note that the two of them found acceptable.

As I was rubbing Gim's hair, feeling vaguely paternal, another of the children came racing down the small path that led from the orphanage and Tiffania's lodging to the village of Westwood proper. Running as fast as her little legs could carry her she went instantly to Tiffania's side and started tugging on the half elf's tunic. When the blond girl obligingly kneeled down, the younger girl began whispering in her ear.

"Ah," Tiffania said, putting one hand to her mouth again. "Um, excuse me, Mr. Shirou, but there are people at the village whom are asking for you."

I stilled. "Oh?" I asked, my voice completely calm. My change in tone seemed to catch Gim's attention and he struggled out from under the hand still messing up his hair to look at me. He blinked, and stumbled backward a bit, looking disconcerted. I didn't blame him. I usually make it a point to smile at the children in order to set them at ease. It was probably the first time he ever saw my face devoid of expression. "Are they asking by description or by name?"

Agnes raised an eyebrow, and then let loose a sigh. She could tell as well as I just who was most likely to be looking for me in this country. The only ones who would possibly have business with me are the queen that she served, and the men whom I had maimed. I had always made it a point to wipe out the raiding parties to a man, not only because I thought they were worthless scum seeking to pray on the weak, but also because if word got out of my presence then there would probably be a lot of angry people descending on the village very quickly. It looked like I must have gotten careless and a scout had seen me, identified me, and then set about rallying an appropriate force to enact their vengeance.

"Um, by description," the elf supplied her ears twitching at my tone. She was a naïve girl, but that didn't stop her from being observant as well. It would be hard not for her to be considering just how sharp her senses were.

I sighed and rubbed my forehead with a hand. "How many men and how many are missing limbs?" I asked, walking over to where I had put Derflinger down during Agnes and mine's practice. The swordswoman also finally managed to pull herself free from her mire of admirers and began to arm herself as well, shrugging back into her chainmail and reaching for her scabbard.

The sudden change in the mood caused the happy air of the children to vanish. They were still young, and had never seen anyone preparing themselves for battle. I felt bad that the first time they did it would have to be two people who they normally thought of as nothing but big friendly toys that played back with them like they had begun to consider the two of us.

My question seemed to confuse the half elf and she put one finger on her chin and cocked her head. "Um, there are no men," she admitted, causing us two swords users to pause. Had I misread the situation? "There are just two girls," she explained.

I blinked. Okay. I hadn't honestly expected that. Agnes cocked her head to the side as well, one of her hands on her hip and the other which had been about to belt on her bandoleer falling to her side while still holding the strap of leather. She paused for a moment in thought and then a slow smile began to stretch across her lips. The smile quickly turned into a leer.

"Well," she said, beginning to chuckle. "It looks like your OTHER reputation might have finally caught up with you as well!" she chortled. I narrowed my eyes, confused at what she was talking about, before widening them in comprehension.

I snorted and scowled at her. "Shut up," I told her bluntly. That only set her to laughing harder.

"You should hurry and take care of them," she managed to get out between guffaws. "It's only two now, but if you're good enough the first time they might bring even more of their friends for the second time!" My scowl deepened. No one else in the clearing understood what she was trying to reference; a fact that I was very grateful for.

"Seriously. Shut up. You're not allowed to talk anymore," I told her. My command set her to laughing so hard she had to brace herself with her hands on her knees or she could possibly fall over.

"Ano," Tiffania spoke up, looking very confused. "What are you two talking about?" she cocked her head to the side, and I could once more see imaginary little question marks circling her head.

"Too much," Agnes managed to get out between laughs. "For any one woman!"

I'm never going to escape those thrice be cursed rumors. I tallied it up as yet another thing that I blamed on the Root.

"Don't worry about it. It's not important," I told Tiffania. Agnes' statement had only confused her more, though my assurance seemed to set her at ease a little bit. "Agnes is just crazy." I paused, and decided to cover my bases just in case. "She's also a liar. A big terrible liar, so you shouldn't believe anything she tells you no matter what, understood?" Agnes was pointing at me, her hand shaking just like the rest of her body as she laughed. I could vaguely make out words coming between her howling laughter, but I purposefully ignored them. "So what do these two girls look like?" I changed the subject.

"Um," Tiffania managed to start, apparently having been distracted by the scene in front of her enough that she had forgotten. The girl who had brought the news whispered into her long ears, which perked up a bit. "One had short black hair, and was very polite." Black hair? That's odd. Black hair isn't very common in these lands. Hair seemed to settle in more exotic flavors around here. "The other has long pink hair, and was very rude."

Short black hair and polite, long pink hair and rude, traveling together…

My eyes shot wide open and I stood up straight in surprise as gasped. "Louise and Siesta!" I proclaimed in shock. Agnes, who had still been laughing suddenly gulped and stopped as her own eyes widened. I smiled as the information properly settled into my head. "Louise and Siesta," I repeated, my voice fond. Those two. Those two crazy girls. They had come looking. Suddenly, my face fell. "Louise and Siesta," I muttered, horror beginning to grow as just what the ramifications of those two being here meant. I groaned, and my body sank in defeat as I repeated for a final time, "Louise and Siesta."

"Eh, Partner," Derflinger spoke up from the place where it still rested on my back. "Are you broken or something? Shouldn't you be happy? You're Master and you're maid are both here!"

"Derflinger," I explained delicately. "The last time I saw Louise was right before I drugged her so I could smuggle her out of the country before I went off to fight seventy thousand soldiers on my own. The last time I saw Siesta was when she had given me the drug with specific orders that I was to use it to save BOTH of us."

Agnes, still with her hands on her knees raised an eyebrow at my description of the chain of events, and then suddenly started laughing again all over. This time the fit was so hard it actually managed to cause her to fall over on to her butt as she clutched her stomach.

I ignored her and turned to Gim who looked every bit as confused as everyone else in the clearing who had no idea just what was going on. Putting both my hands on his shoulders I solemnly met his eyes. "Gim. It looks like I'm about to get beat up by some more girls. If I don't make it, it'll be up to you to look after Tiffania."

Not quite understanding why I was speaking with such gravity, he nodded his head in childish acknowledgment.

*Scene Break*

The village of Westwood was a small one. It barely had more than a dozen houses in it, and even then nearly a third of them were abandoned. It was one of those small pioneer villages that sometimes popped up in the wildernesses, usually consisting of either farmers who had run out of land and had to look elsewhere to grow their crops or tradesmen who just wanted to be closer to their supplies. A third kind of settler also occurred frequently, but they were generally mixed in to the other two classes: commoners who just got so sick of dealing with irritating nobles that they'd rather risk having a run in with an orc raiding party than have to deal with the magic wielding jerks. Westwood was made up of the second and third kind the most. The dominant trade here was lumber, though most of the wood cutting was done a few miles away from the town proper. The men of the village would spend their days toiling away, stacking large piles of trees near a nearby river. Once enough was gathered, they'd dump the whole lot into water and use the natural feature to transport it downstream to another nearby larger town where it was sold to the mills for processing.

Lumber could be a dangerous trade and accidents were fairly common, which was part of the reason that the village actually had empty houses in it and an orphanage nearby. Just those families weren't enough to supply all the children that lived here. That was also due to other nearby villages of the same trade and nature. Rather than have an orphanage in each village, all the parentless children instead were just placed in one convenient place, namely Westwood.

It was midday, and so most of the men were out working. There were still some women about, so despite the fact that Louise was nearly a perfect example of the nobility that the villagers disliked it was not very shocking that the two girls had managed to ferret out my location easily enough.

Which was why even as I strode down the path away from the orphanage and towards the town it came as no surprise to me that before I had even made it halfway I was greeted by the sight of two girls racing through the forest as fast as their legs would carry them.

"Louise! Siesta," I called out, drawing their attention away from the path in front of them they were looking at in order to avoid tripping and injuring themselves. Both of their eyes widened, but beyond that their reactions were as different as night and day.

"Shirou!" Siesta shrieked. She abandoned her pack, which was improbably enough nearly three times her size on the side of the path, hiked up her dark skirt till it was over her knees, and then set a new land speed record covering the ground between us before and launching herself into my arms. I braced myself in time to catch her, though I had to spin around to bleed off her momentum to keep myself from falling as she did so. She was crying, and laughing, and trying to talk all at once, and she had latched onto me with all the strength that being grown in the country and working at a castle had packed into her slight feminine form. I returned her embrace, smiling as I did so. No matter how much I had come to enjoy the peace of living with Tiffania and helping care for the children, it didn't change the fact that Siesta was my friend, one of the best I've made in a very long time.

It was a disservice to her, but despite the joy I felt at her presence, my attention was focused more sharply on the other girl in the clearing. When I had appeared before her Louise had frozen, her pack, which was considerably smaller than Siesta's, still on her shoulders. The little pink haired noble had raised both her hands to her mouth, her face going white as she stared at me. I smiled again, softly. With Siesta still wrapped around me I made my way till I was standing in front of the little noble. When Siesta felt the two of us moving she glanced over towards our destination, and then back up at me and smiled in understanding.

With the maid still holding me fiercely Louise and I faced each other. Looking her up and down, I smiled slightly. "I finally understand what Cattleya means," I broke the silence finally.

It was enough to shake Louise out of her shock. Blinking, the color slowly returning to her face, she stammered, "W-w-w-what do you mean?"

"About her little Louise not being so little anymore. It's only been two months, and yet it looks like you've grown." I don't know why I chose such an inane thing to start our conversation with, but honestly it was really the first thing that I noticed when coming face to face with her after so long a time. She'd probably been growing the entire time I was with her, but her constant presence had insured I had never noticed. She had always been so small that it just seemed a part of her nature: Louise, the small yet fierce noble girl, a tiny doll who just happened to wield a power that was so much larger than her. I could still remember the day we met, when I had stood before her, the top of her head just barely reaching my chest. Now she was well on her way to meeting my shoulders instead.

Louise flushed at my observation. "W-w-well, you changed your clothes!" she accused me back, puffing her cheeks up like she did when she was annoyed. I glanced down. Though I had sacrificed my red shirt months ago during the campaign, I had finally reached the point with my tattered jeans and sneakers that no amount of cleaning or mending would ever be able to repair the shredded blood stained articles. I had switched instead to a loose pair of black trousers, roughly woven, and a set of short boots. It was a bit ghoulish, but I had found the change of clothes while looting the baggage of one of the raiding parties I had taken care of earlier on. They had joined my black top and somewhat ragged blue sleeves to complete my new look.

"It had to happen eventually," I shrugged in acknowledgment of her observation. Siesta snorted at the strange conversation we were making.

The flush faded from Louise's cheeks, and she began to shake slightly. With wide disbelieving eyes that were beginning to water she finally asked me in a small voice, "Are you really here? Really, really here?"

I nodded, and held one of my arms out to her. Hesitantly, as though she were afraid that doing so would confirm that I was just a figment of her imagination or a ghost, she reached out and poked me. When her finger encountered warm flesh, the tears finally broke free and she threw herself next to Siesta as well, her bag still on and adding to her slight weight.

"Stupid! Stupid Shirou! Stupid stupid stupid!" she shouted at me while she cried, beating her small fists against my chest. I wrapped the arm she had poked around her and she finally stopped hitting me and buried her face in my chest to cover her tears. "Stupid Servant," she muttered, loud enough to be heard from where she stood nestled in my arms next to her maid friend. "Making your Master worry like that. You're not allowed to eat for a week! You're going to sleep on the floor outside my door! The only thing you're going to be allowed to say is 'woof'."

"Ah," I sighed in nostalgia. "Just like the good old days, right?"

Louise hiccupped, and then started to giggle, the girlish sound mixing with her lingering sniffles. Siesta beamed up at me, and the three of us savored the joy of the reunion.

That is, until another voice came from behind us.

"Oi, Shirou," Agnes called out, coming around the bend in the trail behind me. "You find your girls yet?"

It was enough of an interruption to break the scene's peaceful aura. The three of us separated, Louise and Siesta blinking in surprise at the intruder.

"Agnes?" Louise yelped in surprise, taking in the commander of the Musketeer Corp. She looked startled by the swordswoman's appearance. During her vacation, I mean her earnest attempt to convince me through debate to return to the queen's presence, debates that usually involved vast quantities of alcohol and foolishness, Agnes had taken to not wearing her cloak of station, pistols, and chainmail. The loss of those nearly iconic items had left her in a simple green tunic with just her sword buckled to it. It made her look disconcertingly feminine in comparison to her usual pragmatic and intimidating appearance.

"The lady who was stationed at the castle?" Siesta piped in, sounding curious. I was surprised at that. I hadn't thought the maid had ever come across the swordswoman.

"What are you doing here?" the two younger girls piped up in unison, their eyebrows furrowing in bewilderment.

"At the moment?" Agnes raised her own eyebrow, her face suspiciously serious. It was time for my eyes to narrow. She looked entirely too composed for someone who had just been busting a gut at my expense. "Trying to cool down from all that exercise me and Shirou have been getting." The blond swordsman fanned herself theatrically, tugging at the collar of her thick padded tunic. "Man, all that hot sweaty action has a way of getting to you."

Oh, you bitch. You didn't.

From beside me where the two younger girls stood I heard what could only be described as a cracking noise, like a great pane of glass being shattered suddenly. From the corner of my eyes I saw Louise and Siesta's eyebrows both twitch in unison.

"Ah!" another voice cried out in panic. Tripping into view came the blond haired form of Tiffania as she apparently lost her balance and stumbled into the clearing, with Gim following behind her. The sudden stumbling motion made her most noticeable characteristics behave in a very noticeable fashion. "Mr. Shirou! Are you okay? Agnes told me that I should come at once!" the half elf, head safely ensconced in a wide brim hat to hide her ears, earnestly peered up at me, her light blue eyes wide with determination to help.

The cracking sound repeated itself, sounding louder this time. Sighing the sigh of the damned, I turned to face the noble and the maid directly again.

Wow. I seemed to have vastly underestimated the exact extent of Louise's growth spurt. She had apparently shot up several dozen feet in the intervening months, enough so that she was towering over me. Her eye color seemed to have changed as well, from the light brown I remembered to what appeared to be a glowing red backlit by all the flames of hell. Also, it appeared that the weather had changed: where once it had been very sunny and bright out, warm for early spring, the sky now appeared to be filled with vast swirling ominous clouds of the darkest black. It also appeared that Louise's wand had somehow found its way into her hands, where it now crackled with eldritch power capable of unspeakable horrors.

A glance to her side showed that Siesta also seemed to have undergone a similar height change, though her light blue eyes apparently had been shrouded by a darkness that most likely spawned from the most forsaken and evil corners of the universe, and in her hand was a frying pan that was similarly clad with shadows.

"Worrying your Master? Why should you care about worrying your Master? Not when you have breasts like that? Not enough just to have huge ones, you need smaller ones too? Getting hot and sweaty with one, getting hot and sweaty with the other? Master? What Master? You have breasts, that's all you need…" Louise was muttering quickly through her clenched cheeks puffed again with rage. The wand in her hand continued to spark in an ominous way, shaking the same way her fist shook as she clenched it in front of her.

Next to her, in a similar manner, Siesta too was muttering. She appeared to have a different focus for her ire. "Caring for other children? Finding someone else to be all happy newlywed with? Starting a family with someone else? Raising kids with someone else? Have a white picket fence and a puppy named Wanwan? Cooking together? Who needs a maid when they have kids already…"

"Partner," Derflinger spoke up from my back, sounding very nervous as it did so. "Don't you think you should be running now?"

A glance over my shoulder showed an Agnes about to succumb to laughter again, and a Tiffania that was confused. At least my lesson to Gim about always being polite seemed to be sinking in, judging from his wide eyed stare and the way he was cowering behind his big sister's legs. There would be no help from that corner. "And give them time to think up something worse?" I pointed out to the sword. "I might be able to survive it if I let them get it out of their systems now."

The sword was silent for a moment, before continuing. "Do you think you could just throw me over to the sword girl real fast till they're done? I don't like the look of that frying pan." I eyed the shadow clad cooking instrument myself, and then sighed and did as requested. There was no reason for both of us to go down in this. Agnes was too busy laughing to catch the weapon, which might have had something to do with how hard and how fast I had thrown it, and the way I had aimed it at her head. The blond swordswoman fell to the ground, her eyes woozy from the impact of Derflinger's handle against her forehead. "Thanks, partner!" the sword called back gratefully. "I'll always remember you as the best of men!"

The two girls both appeared to reach the end of their vocalized train of thoughts. Frying pan and wand were raised together as one as twin shouts of, "Stupid Shirou!" echoed through the air.

Reinforcing myself to the extent of my ability, I cursed the Root for this.

*Scene Break*

"Well," I said slowly, drumming my fingers on the table as I did so. "Are you happy now?"

"Yes!" Siesta chirped happily as she bustled around the metal stove in Tiffania's cabin. You'd never have known that no more than an hour ago the girl had managed somehow managed to call upon dark forces to empower a cooking instrument with terrible power. "Tea will be ready shortly!" she added with a smile. She was still wearing her casual clothes, but had pulled an apron out of one of her numerous packs and was wearing it again. The same pack yielded an entire tea set as well. I smiled fondly when I recognized it as the one that Louise and I usually shared.

"No," Louise declared firmly. She had her chin tilted upwards and away, her arms crossed and her eyes closed in indignation. Every once in a while the eye closest to me would crack open and track the movements of the one who she had focused her blame on for my delayed disappearance.

That target for her ire, who coincidently was now having to deal with the fall out of the two girls' warpath. "Ah! Mr. Shirou," Tiffania fretted nearby with a bundle of bandages. "Are you sure that you don't want me to wrap your injuries?" It looked like the only reason she hadn't already started to do so despite my assurances of my own health was that she was very nervous about getting close to either one of the newcomers.

"Its fine," I repeat myself again. The half elf had already done more than enough in regards to treating my injuries. No point in forcing her to take care of them again. I had managed to evade and protect myself against the worst of it and had only came out of the entire scene a little roughed up but not actually hurt. "And what do you have to say for yourself?" I changed who I was addressing; my fingers drumming a little harder as I gave the one most responsible for setting Siesta and Louise off in the first place a glare.

"Heh," Agnes snorted, though it sounded somewhat uncomfortable. "I didn't know it would get quite that bad," she admitted. It was the closest I'd probably get to an apology from her.

"The tea is almost ready," chirped Siesta, completely disregarding the tension in the room, and bustling back from the fire place with five already poured cups. She distributed them with a pleasant smile, before sitting next to me, so that I was effectively sandwiched between her and Louise. A pleasant aroma drifted up from me from the cup that was put in front of me. I took a small sip, and sighed contentedly.

"It looks like the student has surpassed the master," I told her, smiling slightly.

"Thank you, Shirou," the maid chirped, sipping her own tea. "I've been practicing for when you returned." I tried not to let the wince slide through my smile at her subtle dig. Okay, the beating might have taken the worst of her displeasure off, but it looked like forgiveness hadn't quite been achieved yet.

Tiffania took a sip of her own tea, and I saw her hat move where her ears underneath had apparently twitched. "Ah!" she declared, blushing. "This is delicious!" Her wide blue eyes earnestly met Siesta's. "It's wonderful," the half elf smiled at the maid.

"Thank you," Siesta said back graciously. "It's the least I can do for the one who took care of my Shirou while he was away." She emphasized the 'my' in her sentence a little strongly. Not enough to be too obvious but definitely enough that it was noticeable. It looked like she wasn't wasting any time marking her territory.

If Siesta had been hoping for a fight to defend her claim, she was in for a disappointment. Though she might not have been trying to be obvious, to hearing like Tiffania's she might as well been shouting. "Ah!" the half elf said, bringing her hands to clasp together in front of her, her eyes wide. "Are you two together? That's wonderful! Mr. Shirou is so lucky to have someone like you to come home to!" Tiffania gushed as she complimented the maid guilelessly. She was just so sweet and sheltered that she hadn't even caught on to the fact that Siesta had been regarding her as an obstacle.

Siesta turned bright red at the compliment. "Come home to," she murmured, and then put both her hands on her cheeks and began wiggling in her seat with closed eyes. "Kya!" she shrieked happily, apparently disappearing into a wonderful imaginary scenario that no doubt involved fences and puppies.

It looked like Tiffania had just won her over to her side completely.

Agnes, who had been watching the whole scene with an air of amusement, finally took a sip of her own tea. With a sudden retching noise she spat it out instantly. "Agh!" she gasped, scraping at her tongue in an effort to get the taste off it, "That was horrible! That was the foulest thing I have ever tasted!" The swordswoman gagged as me and Tiffania stared at her in surprise. What in the Throne of Heroes was she talking about?

"Ah!" Siesta spoke up, still blushing and wiggling. "When I was thinking about how someone who knew that Shirou was all right and didn't bother to inform Louise, I just got so upset that I spilled her tea! So then I simply used some weeds I found outside to make more for her!"

Well, it wasn't quite as violent a punishment as I had gotten, but it looked like the country girl had found a new target for her wrath.

"You listen here, maid," Agnes spoke up, her face a little red with anger at the trick, and then she froze. Somehow between mid wiggles Siesta had apparently recovered her frying pan in the hand that was still pressed against her blushing cheeks. Watching the utensil carefully and with the same regard she usually had for Louise when the pink haired girl had a wand in her hand Agnes slowly sat back down.

"You know," the swordswoman said carefully, eying the frying instrument carefully while she pushed the cup to the side, "I wasn't really that thirsty anyway."

As amusing as this conversation promised to be, it was then that Louise finally acted. Unfolding her arms she grabbed her cup of tea and threw it back like it was a shot of alcohol. "Enough of this!" the noble girl snapped. Her mood had apparently not been improved terribly by the chance to take it out on me earlier. "It's time we start to head back. Servant, prepare your things so we can leave," she ordered me bluntly.

"Louise," I murmured, my eyes locked on my cup of tea. Before I could get any further the pink haired girl rocketed to her feet, the chair she had been sitting on scraping across the rough wooden floor of the cabin. The sudden noise drove the rest of the room to silence.

"Don't call me by my name!" the pink haired girl shrieked, her eyes closed and her head bowed as she planted both of her hands on the tab le. Her knuckles were white as she squeezed the wood. "You will call me 'Master'. I am your Master, and you will call me that," she shouted, her voice high pitched with emotion.

"Louise," I said again, just as softly, not looking at her still. At my continued use of her name her eyes shot open and she glared at me furiously. One of her tiny hands snaked out, grabbing my shirt and pulling towards her. Since I was sitting she was tall enough to hover over me.

"No! Master," she ordered me, her voice laced with something besides fury: desperation. "Master, Master, Master!" She shook me as hard as she could with each repetition. I closed my eyes sadly.

"Louise, don't," I began again, trying to finish a sentence. Her other hand flew out, striking me across my cheek. I let my head rock back from the blow without reacting.

"No!" she snapped, her voice bordering on hysteria. "No! Master!" She kept shaking me, though it was weaker now. Her other hand tried to strike me again.

"Louise!" Siesta shouted, appalled by her actions even as Agnes shot to her feet herself, her own shout of, "Oi!" at what to her seemed like an unprovoked assault. Tiffania cowered back at the sudden display of violence.

One hand holding my cup, the other caught the pink haired nobles strike, holding it gently. "Louise," I said firmly. "It is unbecoming to attempt to deceive yourself like that." Finally turning my head to face the girl, who had the beginning of tears in her eyes again, I continued. "We both know what has happened."

"No," Louise denied, the tears falling as her voice shook. "No. No it didn't. It can't." The strength flowed out of her and she collapsed to her knees beside me, her hand still gripping my shirt tightly.

"What's going on?" Agnes declared. She was a woman who liked to know the way things stood, and the sudden and completely unexpected chain of events had shaken her. A woman of my own nature, she had one hand on her sword as she tried to figure out what was going on.

I answered. "The contract has been severed. We are Master and Servant no longer." As though my words were the final key to unlocking the truth she had denied to herself, Louise's hand released my shirt and she fell forward onto my leg, weeping. I put my hand on her head to comfort her.

"What?" Siesta gasped, her eyes wide in shock. She had worked in the academy long enough to pick up a few of the less specialized laws of magic of this land. Agnes' eyes widened as well, no doubt being aware of probably even more than Siesta did. Tiffania looked confused, but apparently had decided she didn't know enough of the circumstances here for her to feel sure of speaking up at the moment. "But that's impossible!" the maid continued. "The only way for a contract to end is for one of the partners to die!"

Speaking quietly, I explained. "I might have previously understated the extent of the wounds I received at Saxe-Gotha."

"Understated?" Agnes questioned, all playfulness gone from her. This was her duty face that she was wearing. "Understated to what extent?" Louise reached up to the hand I had balanced on her head. It was my left one. With shaking hands, as though she didn't want to see the final proof of my statement, she pulled the blue sleeve I wore free so that the back of my hand was bared. On it, where once had been etched the runes of Gandalfr, was nothing but unblemished skin.

"It is a testament to Ms. Tiffania's skill as a healer, and not to my own fortitude or skill, that I am still alive to this day," I said bluntly. "I don't know what skill she used, what folklore remedy or secret technique, but if it had been even a square class water mage and not her who had found me then I would not be here now." Agnes' face went hard and her eyes narrowed as she correlated just what that meant about my condition while Siesta went every bit as white as Louise had gone when she had first laid eyes on me on the path to the orphanage. "You already knew this, Louise," I chided the weeping noble girl as I placed my cup down and used my other hand to stroke her hair gently. "The loss of the dream cycle should have informed you as surely as the loss of the runes did me. It was why you were shocked when you found me actually alive." The girl said nothing, her body still wracked with sobbing.

The tense atmosphere stretched on, the room silent except for the sound of weeping. Finally, Agnes straightened and removed her hand from her sword. "I see," she said, her voice firm as she broke the long silence. "Is this one of the reasons you delayed your departure for so long?" Agnes was in full on commander mode now, her drinking and having fun mode fully buried as she began to efficiently gather information for her report to her queen.

"Yes," I acknowledged freely. "Originally it had been my intent to wait for fully a year before revealing my survival." That got the attention of the room, and not in a good way. My hand still clasped by Louise suddenly found the grip holding it strong enough to cause my bones to creak. On my other side Siesta had frozen, her expression distinctly less cheerful and pleasant that it had been while she had been serving the tea. Agnes' eyebrow shot up at the admittance. Tiffania, who still did not look like she understood the references to the contract definitely looked unhappy at the thought that I had planned to let these girls who obviously cared for me think I was dead for so long. I continued, my voice soft and devoid of emotion. "Once you had discovered me it was my intent to have you pass on a message stating that I wouldn't be returning till early fall at the soonest to Henrietta so she could pass it on to the Academy and the students there."

Louise didn't take that confession particularly well. One hand still crushing mine with her grip, and the other now crushing her wand similarly she had stood up to her full height once more. This time there was no thunder clouds, no hellfire in her eyes, no towering presence. She had gone blank, every bit as emotionless as myself right before I began killing. Her eyes were still red rimmed from her earlier weeping, but they had gone as hard as amber. This was an expression I had seen once before, in an inn of charming faeries right after I had casually blasphemed the name of Founder Brimir.

This was a Louise seriously considering finishing the job that had almost been done by an army of seventy thousand.

"Shirou," she ground out. Her voice was like ice. It made me cringe to hear it, and not for the violence it promised. "Servant or not, I still know you enough to know you have reason behind such intent." Her voice vaguely reminded me of her mother's. Or mine. "I will have you tell me for what purpose you would let me suffer thinking you dead, or by the Root I will…"

I cut her off. "What is the Root, Louise?" My interruption caused her to blink in surprise. "Did you even notice that you've started swearing by it? When did that begin?" Louise's eyes narrowed and she glanced to the side, confused. I remembered the first time she did so, but it seemed she didn't. "And this," I commented, raising the hand she was still clenching. "You're grip strength has increased. Your arm's as well. You've been working out still, haven't you?"

"What does…" Louise began, but it was my turn to interrupt her.

I turned to Siesta, who still looked angry at my intent of having a long delay in my return. "How long do her exercises go? How intense are they?" The maid was still clenching her weapon of choice, and her cheeks were puffed out angrily as she continued to glare at me.

Still, she answered. "Louise practices for many hours each day, from when class ends to late at night," she informed me. "I usually have to clean her up since she can't move on her own afterward." It looked like she was still waiting for an explanation that would excuse me.

"What does she do besides that? Does she visit with her friends? Or does she ever do any shopping for new dresses, or maybe flirt with any of the boys in her class? Does she ever do anything that the other girls her age do?"

Siesta squinted her eyes and pursed her lips as she thought back. It looked like I had distracted her enough for her to lower the pan in her hand. "Well," the maid admitted, sounding surprised as she thought back to Louise's schedule. "I spend most of my breaks with her, and I never noticed anything like that," she concluded finally. It looked like the maid had taken to keeping an eye on her friend while I was gone. Agnes and Tiffania both looked like they had no idea what was going on, but it seemed like my questioning was defusing the tension into something more manageable.

"It was something I only started noticing recently myself," I began, finally starting my explanation proper, "just how much you had begun to emulate me. It didn't surprise me that you would. I was a strong figure, a proud user of strange magic that I had overcome great difficulty to possess and master." My free hand went back to my tea, the other still locked in Louise's less intense grip now that she was listening to my explanation. Her other hand loosened slightly on her wand. "I stood beside you freely and of my own will. I could have ended the contract at any point," I admit freely. That raised an eyebrow from Agnes and Siesta, but not from Louise. By now she probably knew full well just how diverse my abilities could be in the right situation. "It was no surprise that you would start to pick up some of my habits. Honestly, I didn't really consider my influencing you to be a bad thing initially."

As I sipped my tea, Louise spoke up. "Initially?" she asked. Her voice was still devoid of emotion.

"Yes. I thought that it was just you growing, me being a role model of sorts." I grimaced, both at the memory of my assumption and the thought of me being a figure of influence. "Then I learned of the dream cycle. I had at first dismissed it as just being a curiosity, but then I began to wonder just how much you were seeing." I kept my gaze on her from the corner of my eye. "Did you ever see the City of the Dead, Louise?" She flinched and looked down, her eyes haunted. I sighed. So she had. "How about the siege of the Forest of Einnashe? The seven days in Damascus? The hunt for the Apostate Council? I know for certain you bore witness to the Holy Grail War." Each name, each battle that I had never spoken of since arriving in this land, or most of them that I had never spoken of even back in my home world, brought a fresh wince and the ghost of a new horror in her eyes. I snorted. "I thought so. When it came to me just what you might be witnessing, I was left to wonder just how much of your imitation came from conscious effort, and how much had come because you simply didn't know what else to do?

"What do you mean?" Siesta spoke up, confusion and fear in her voice. She might not be able to follow the words and events I was describing, but she could follow the reaction they brought out in Louise and myself well enough. "What were those things?"

"Battles," Louise supplied for me, her voice quiet. "They were battles. They were…" she broke off, her voice uncertain on how to describe them.

I picked up for her. "They were the most gruesome, terrifying, and glory less slaughters, be it for one side of the other that I had participated in. There were others, but those ones pretty much rank at the top. When I went into them I was ready. I knew the risks; I knew what was at stake. No matter how bad they got, I was prepared for what would come. But you, Louise, no matter how much you might claim otherwise, you're just a little girl." That seemingly diminutive statement set Agnes on edge too before I continued. "You were raised in an enormous mansion, never wanting for anything. Before you met me, you never saw conflict. The worst thing you ever experienced was getting laughed at in class for messing up a spell. The most painful thing you've ever gone through was probably stubbing your toe." I shook my head. "You shouldn't have had to go through what I had."

Louise gritted her teeth. She understood what I was trying to say. Understood, and disagreed it seemed. "So what?" she demanded of me. "So you accidently show me more that what my poor sheltered little girl self could handle and you decide that you would let me think you were dead instead?"

"Yes," I answered bluntly, the tea still in my hand cold as I sipped it. That caused Tiffania to go on edge this time at the callousness of my statement. "I wanted you to mourn. I wanted you to cry and scream, and throw tantrums." I put the cup down as I continued. "And I wanted you to do it surrounded by your friends and family. I wanted you to reach out to them, to reconnect. I wanted you to spend your time with Siesta, reading your little romance books that the two of you love so much. I wanted you to get in silly little fights with Kirche, and have Tabitha settle the two of you down. I wanted you to spend time with Cattleya, healing wounded thrushes and playing with puppies and kittens. I wanted you to remember what it was like before I brought blood and blades and battle into your life."

"Shirou," Siesta whispered next to me. She put a hand on mine, and when she drew my attention to it I realized that my fingers had gone white with the pressure they were putting on the porcelain. Anymore and I might have broken it, driving the sharp shards into my calloused hand without even realizing it. The maid was watching me with worried eyes. I closed my own for a moment, taking a deep breath and releasing some of the tension that had begun to build in me as I had spoken.

"So you were just going to leave me forever?" Louise asked, her voice soft, nearly a whimper. As I had explained my choice the angry tension had begun to leave her body bit by bit. Replacing it was a new tension: regret and bitterness. "Now that I'm not your Master, there's no reason to stay with Louise the Zero?" She spoke her title, given to her in cruel jest and yet somehow redeemed through her own hard work and elemental affinity. She had begun to wear the name with pride, smiling even as those who didn't know the joke tried to mock her. Now, it wasn't a proud name again. Now it was the bitter legacy of a fragile girl who had begun to grow beyond her insecurities into the strong and confident woman she would someday become and yet found herself hovering once more on the edge of a cliff leading to her past despair.

I snorted. "You silly girl," I chided her, bringing my free hand to rest on hers which still held my other. "We have lived together for nearly a year. We had fought together, trained together, overcome difficulties and defeated foes side by side. You know me better than anyone else has ever known me in all my life, save perhaps two others. Just as I have come to know you better than any other in this land I think." I gave her a crooked grin. "Even if we are no longer Servant and Master we are still friends and comrades. A little time and distance wouldn't change that."

Louise gave me a watery smile, happy, despite the fact that she still looked awful from her early crying. With a sniffle she suddenly released my hand, turning away and surreptitiously brushing at her face. "Stupid Shirou," she chided me, seeking refuge from her embarrassment with old habits. "Don't get so presumptuous! You're still just a commoner, and I'm a noble, the daughter of a Duke! Do you really think you can presume so much?"

I snorted in return. "Yeah, yeah," I murmured, turning back to my cup, giving her the semblance of privacy despite the fact that the whole scene had just been witnessed by the other three occupants in the room. "Don't forget, daughter of a Duke, if your mother had her way we'd already be in-laws."

"Well," Louise said, turning back to the table and pulling her own chair back. She had somehow performed one of those mystic skills that only women seemed to possess and managed to completely erase the previous red from her eyes. With a 'humph' she sat herself down next to me, her own hands going to her cup, despite it being empty. "As long as it's Cattleya," she admitted, staring at the cup in her hand steadfastedly.

"Ah!" Siesta said, standing up suddenly and turning away from the table. It looked like she was trying to conceal her own reaction to the emotional scene as she surreptitiously wiped her eyes while her back was turned. "Who would like some more tea?" she asked the room at large while bustling around the table collecting cups.

Tiffania hesitantly held up her hand. It seemed that she found the scene emotional too, though she lacked the context to properly understand all of it. "Um," she said, looking like she was looking for a reason to give the two of us some space, "do you need any help?"

Apparently her earlier statement about me coming home to Siesta had earned the half elf enough good will to allow that. "Please," the maid chirped. "I'll show you how to brew!"

As the two hustled off back to the fireplace Agnes continued to watch Louise and I with her professional face on. "I see," Agnes murmured, her face lost in thought. "Is that why you refused to return to the queen? Because you're now a free man?"

"Partly," I admitted. "I like Henrietta. That girl has almost as much steel in her as Louise. I could do far worse than her if I was looking for a new boss. But if I went back there would probably be some kind of reward like a title or some land or something, and that would lead to me getting embroiled in the rest of the country's nobility, and that would lead to…" and here I shuddered, "politics." I felt an urge to scratch my tongue the same way that Agnes had after she had drank Siesta's weed tea.

Louise had apparently regained enough control of her emotions to chime in here. "No! You can't do that!" she declared, looking worried. "If you actually had a title than mother would switch the marriage proposals from Cattleya to Eleanor!" The two of us shuddered in unison.

"I would think that the King of Swords would have a little more fortitude in the face of some noble woman's matchmaking," Agnes snorted. Louise and I both ignored her. She didn't know just what noble woman she was talking about. Karin seemed like the kind of woman that would simply show up at whatever land or castle I was given, bust down the door, defeat me in single comment, and then tie me up while the ceremony was occurring. Subtlety didn't seem the former Manticore Knight's strong point. After her attempt at brevity didn't provoke the reaction she was looking for, the musketeer continued. "Still, from what I heard it seemed like you had been planning this course of action for a while now."

"I have been," I admitted with another shrug.

Louise gave me an accusatory glance. "Shirou," she began again, a note of warning in her voice. "Just how long have you been planning to fake your death?"

"Well, I certainly didn't expect for it to work out so neatly," I muttered, "but when we received the orders for the Hill's of Saxe-Gotha, when you began spouting nonsense about saving people that I decided you'd be better off without me for a bit."

"Nonsense about saving?" Agnes piped in as Siesta and Tiffania started setting cups down on the table. "You speak pretty disdainfully about what you consider one of your own ideals." I began to reach for my cup before I caught sight of Agnes looking at her own distrustfully. It occurred to me that maybe I should be cautious with my first sip, seeing as Siesta was pretty upset with me earlier. Agnes saw my own measuring look at my cup and decided to wait and see if the maid's ire had been refocused on a target other than her.

With some small doubt, I took a sip. The brew was bitter, but tasted proper. It looked like the extent of Siesta's upset was in denying me the sugar and lemon I usually took my brew with. Still, I smiled contentedly. "Mmmm," I said, acting as though it was precisely to my taste with a smile. Tiffania and Siesta both smiled, the elf girl in pride over her new found skill and the maid in satisfaction that I had drank it anyway. Message received.

Agnes, apparently reassured that the worst of it was over took a sip of her own tea. I smiled along with Siesta when the swordswoman began spitting it to the side again instantly, her face cringed with disgust over the flavor now invading her mouth.

"I'm aloud to speak that way about my ideals," I said, picking up where the conversation had left off. "They're my ideals. I know damn well what they mean."

"Oh?" the swordswoman prompted, once more pushing her cup aside with a grimace. She eyed whatever it was the rest of us were drinking with a bit of envy, noting the way everyone but her was enjoying the brew and wondering what she was missing. "It seems pretty simple. Go out, stop someone from hurting someone else, pronounce a saving, and go home. What else is there to it?"

"Hm," I murmured. "You don't know a Root be damned thing about what you're saying, and if you speak of it so flippantly again in my presence I will strike you across your face. I should honestly do the same to Louise in retrospect, for speaking so presumptuously back then."

The statement was giving in such a casual manner that it took the rest of the room a few seconds before they comprehended just what I had said.

"Ah!" Tiffania spoke up sounding disappointed. The elf girl seemed to have a habit of emitting small noises before speaking. It looked like she used them to get attention before she spoke so she wouldn't have to use anything more assertive to draw peoples notice. "You shouldn't say things like that so casually, Mr. Shirou." It looked like Agnes and Louise both agreed in the face of my easy promise of violence on them if they spoke of my ideals carelessly. Siesta seemed concerned too, but it was more academic. As a commoner she had strong feelings about the appropriateness of nobles killing nobles. If the present company wasn't people she knew personally she might have just sat back and hoped that I would follow through with my promise.

"I don't," I assured the half elf. "It's them who don't understand what they're saying." I sighed. Louise deserved to know my feelings on the subject. She had very nearly adopted my stance on her own, without ever realizing just what she was getting into if she decided that she wanted to start saving people. "Do you know what it means, to want to save someone, Tiffania?" I asked the elf girl gently.

"Um," she murmured, pushing her hands together in embarrassment at having been singled out. "It means to help someone who is in need. I think it sounds like a wonderful thing to do!"

I debated silently for a moment if I should really explain what it meant to save. If Tiffania wasn't here, than I wouldn't have hesitated like I did. The elf girl, for all that she was kind and worked hard, she probably didn't need to hear this.

That small part of me, the part that wanted to tell the kind girl the truth about her beloved Mathilda, the part of me that was vindictive and cruel, this time it won out over the part of me that wanted to shelter the long eared blond.

"But in order to save someone," I murmured softly, "they must first be in trouble. Every wish to aid in salvation is a wish that there is someone in danger of damnation. That is the crux of my ideal."

Tiffania's eyes shot open, and her hands flew to her mouths as she realized my point.

"It gets far worse than that," I continued, the room quiet except for my voice and the crackle of the logs on the fire. It was growing late in the evening, and the shadows in the room had begun to grow long as we spoke, slowly immersing the room in darkness that was only fought against by the flames on the hearth. "In the end, the bitter truth is that you can't save everyone. In order for succeed, another must fail. For one to live, another must die. If there are two people fighting, both with a knife to the others' throat, in order to save one, than the other must lose their life."

I sipped my tea, the room silent as all four of the girls watched me. Tiffania was shrinking into her chair, not able to look at anyone head on. Louise and Agnes, both of whom had been angered by my threat of violence on them were watching me with narrowed eyes. Siesta, the kind girl, she had placed a hand on mine again, trying to offer her support even as she couldn't bring herself to look at me. My own gaze was locked on the fire across the room.

"And even beyond that," I continued, my voice soft, tinged with cynicism and flavored with bitterness, "there's always the math. Tell me, if the only way for you to save ten innocent lives is to end one innocent life with your bare hands, could you do it?" I didn't wait for an answer. "How about one hundred saved for the cost of ten? A thousand for a hundred?" I sipped my tea, the flavor bitter, and I savored it. It was an accustomed taste to me. "In the end, the price of salvation is a heavy coin to bear."

It was Siesta who spoke up. For all that others had the tendency to dismiss the maid as being frivolous and soft, it didn't change the fact that the country girl knew damn well just how harsh the world could truly be, how uncaring the fates truly were. "How many have you saved, Shirou," she asked me, finally able to look at me. Her gaze was lacking the condemnation I had thought might be there. As a maid, she always knew the day might come when some particular noble might take notice of her, and her body. There was always the day when someone beyond her ability to reprimand might someday decide to take advantage of her beyond her ability to recompense.

Sometimes, that was just the way the world was. Things happened, and there was nothing you could do about it.

My smile was jagged, like the serrated edges of a saw. "Just the other day, I saved thirty thousand." I snorted. "In the end, since you can't save everyone, you can only choose which ones you want to help. It's funny, isn't it? When Albion invaded and was driven away, it was called a miracle by Tristain. Yet when their own invading force was driven away just the same, it was called an act of treachery and dark magic. In the end, to save one country, another was ravaged."

"If it's such a terrible burden," Agnes growled, not liking my tone one bit, nor the flippant way that I dismissed the concerns of nations without regard to her nationalism, "then why do you continue to bear it?"

"Because in the end, in order to save ten, one must die. And someone has to be able to be the one to bear that burden," I said softly. "Is it any wonder that I didn't want anyone else to have to make that choice?"

*Scene Break*

That night, Tiffania played her harp again. I left the cabin the moment she began to tune it, the mood already somber with the revelations that had been made.

I was a bit more familiar than most on this continent about the effects of magic upon my person; a side effect of my own skills and experiences back in my home world. I knew from the very first time I heard her play.

Tiffania was a mage. It must have been a powerful magic to be able to resurrect me. It was a more subtle magic when she played that song, the one that caused me to remember so many things of my past, the Serenade of Nostalgia. In the past, I had let the magic run its course. Tonight, with so many bitter memories already hovering around my consciousness, I had no desire to see what her spell craft would evoke, nor the particular will to exert the effort to shed the effect consciously.

As I stood in the cold night air, staring at the sky as my breath frosted in front of me, I suppressed a grimace. Magic that could heal even a dead man and yet also bring forth memories of the past didn't exactly fit into the categories of the usual four elements found in this land.

Though I wouldn't ever say it aloud, I owed Tiffania enough to not call such attention down on her, I had an idea what kind of magic would be able to evoke those two responses.

Once more, it looked like my supposition was correct: it seemed that Void might not be as uncommon as most thought. It might just be so different that most simply did not recognize it when it dragged them back to life.

A rustle behind me brought my attention back to the world and away from my thoughts. My hand drifted up to Derflinger's handle by habit before I stopped myself. One of the reasons I was so insistent on staying out of the public eye for a while was that it appeared as though my time as Gandalfr had given me some bad habits: habits like keeping a hand on a weapon whenever I expected a confrontation, relying on the speed and power granted me by the class, habits of always knowing exactly how to handle even the most exotic of weapons, and delaying my reinforcement when in conflict. They shouldn't be too hard to break quickly enough, but for now it would be better for me to be somewhere relatively safe while working on them.

From behind me Louise emerged into my line of sight. She had wrapped a cloak around herself to help ward of the chill of the night, and her breath frosted in front of her like mine as she watched me carefully.

"There are a few more things we need to talk about," she said directly, her face set with determination.

"I suppose so," I admitted, not moving as she walked up to stand beside me. We stood side by side, looking up into the crystal clear night sky, dotted with brilliant white stars that peaked through the barren limbs of the trees that surrounded us.

Louise took a moment to collect her thoughts and decide how she was going to state them, and then finally just bluntly said, "Your lover is dead, Shirou." It was partially declaration, partially accusation, but no part of it was a question.

"Yes. I know," I agreed back softly.

"All the times you talked about your oath, about meeting her on the hill of swords, that was you talking about dying yourself." Once more, it was not a question.

I nodded. "Yes, it was."

"Wait, what?" Derflinger asked from my back, startled by the last declaration. We both ignored it.

"Do you really want to die that badly, Shirou?" Louise asked, her voice soft. "Do you miss your Saber that much?"

I released a long breath, the plume of frost drifting away and disbursing as I gathered my thoughts. "Some time ago, I was given a glimpse of the future that awaited me," I began. "I was shown how I would die. Since that day, I have always known that I would fall alone, against vastly superior force, in the defense of many others, and that my final resting place would be on an empty hill, surrounded by buried swords."

"That's impossible," Louise countered me, her features firm. "No one can predict the future. Not even the Void can do something like that." She paused, and glanced at Derflinger. "Can it?" she asked, sounding worried.

The six millennia old blade answered, "Wait, I'm still confused. What's this about partner wanting to die?"

I ignored the aside. "It's not that hard to predict the future, Louise," I snorted. "I can do it right now. Here's my predictions: Agnes will most likely fall in service of her queen. Siesta will eventually marry and have a very large family. You will live a hard life, and have many enemies, but you will grow strong enough to face them."

"Those are just guesses!" Louise countered. "And mostly common sense ones at that! Agnes is a knight in the command of the queen. It's not at all unlikely that she might someday lose a battle! And Siesta was raised in a large family. Of course she would want a big one of her own. And I am a user of the Void, and a vassal of the queen as well. Of course I will have troubling times before me." She scowled at the flippancy I was treating my prophesized death with.

"Of course," I admitted. "And I am a swordsman with a troubling habit of getting myself involved with things that tend to be over my head, and no desire to drag down anyone else with me if it ever gets to be too much to handle. But my knowledge is also based on something more than common sense. I was given a glimpse into the future once, and I saw what could happen to me."

Louise huffed and stamped her feet. "Fine. Then even if you know what might happen, why are you so eager for it to happen? Why don't you stay away from hills, or run away when you're out numbered? Why don't you even stop using swords, if they're such a part of how you die? You said yourself you're just as good with arrows! You could still do so much using just them!"

I frowned slightly, but maintained my calm. "I can turn that around on you just as easily," I retorted. "You've seen what happens when you use the Void, and how people will use you if they know. Why don't you throw away your wand and go back to your manor? You could marry some other rich noble, and spend your life peacefully, cared for in every way. Why don't you do that?"

Louise looked aghast at the thought. "I can't! I am a noble, and a mage! I will not just run away and hide," she snapped at me. It was a reactionary comment, her simply lashing out at my accusation with the beliefs she had been raised to hold dear, a tribute to the strength of will that had been imparted to her while she grown up in the Valliere household. A second later, her eyes widened as she truly realized what she had said. "I can't," she whispered, finally understanding.

"You see," I told her, and she did. "I won't run away from what awaits me anymore than you will. More than that, I can't. It would be against my very nature, against everything I believe in."

Louise understood. She was the first to ever do so. None of my other friends, who had grew discouraged and left my side so long ago, had ever understood. Not even Rin had ever truly comprehended my will. She had seen it herself as well, had known what awaited me, a gift granted to her from her own summon, her Archer, the Counter Guardian Emiya, a twisted version of myself from the future. She had tried to save me, doing her best to try and turn me from the path. But Tohsaka had always been a genius. Geniuses were so used to instantly understanding things, to always being right, that sometimes there were things they just couldn't comprehend, things that were just so different from the way they saw the world that they could never wrap their minds around such alien concepts.

But Louise was different. She was like me, one who had struggled, one who had persevered. She had worked five times as hard for every ounce of skill and power she now possessed than any genius ever had. She was just like me in that she could never casually throw away what she had shed tears of blood for, even if she knew what awaited her after having done so.

In the end, neither one of us could ever be swayed from our paths. Louise and I didn't need saving. We were right where we wanted to be.

"So," Louise whispered, the weight of our conversation heavy in the clearing we stood in. "So why do you hunt for it? Why are you so eager for it? It's one thing to know it, but why do you embrace it?"

I took my gaze from the stars and turned it to the earth instead. Nestled in the edge of the clearing was a boulder. With my eyes on the stone instead I spoke. "My Saber, Arturia, once very long ago she was given a choice. Her first option was to lead simple life, a happy life, one where she could be simply a woman, and find joy. Her other choice was to take up an endless task, one full of bloodshed and hardship, a thankless one that she would inevitably fail, one where she would always stand alone, beyond the reach of others." Again, my fingers traced Derflinger's handle as I focused my eye on the stone in front of me. "She chose the task, to do what was necessary, and to live a life of sacrifice so that others could enjoy what she denied herself. On that day, she too was given a prophecy: that one day, when her task was finally over, she would have a chance at happiness. But it was just a chance, one that could very well never come about. It required two miracles in order to occur. The first miracle was that one must wait endlessly for it. The second was that another must search just as endlessly. Both the waiter and the searcher must rely on faith, never knowing if the other was still waiting, or if the other was still searching. In order to succeed they must both trust that the other had not abandoned them."

I dragged my eyes from the stone, and turned to face Louise directly. Her eyes had grown wide as she heard the tale, her hands clutching the cloak around her as the magnitude of it was presented to her. I smiled. It wasn't bitter, nor was it cynical. It wasn't only a half grin or a smirk. It was probably the first time my little former-Master had seen such a peaceful expression on me. "I died, on the Hills of Saxe-Gotha, alone, and against an army. Yes, it wasn't quite as permanent as I expected it to be, but die I did. And even if it was only for a moment, even if I was brought back in the end, even if fate has not yet had its fill with me, if I must still stay in the night for a bit longer, I know now. She still waits. And so I still search. Endlessly. No matter how long it takes, no matter what the path holds before me, I will search."

Louise swallowed as she heard my vow, tears starting to trace their way down her face again.

On my back, Derflinger spoke into the silence that had settled on us. "You never did thank that girl for saving your life, did you," it whispered softly.

"And I never will," I admit back just as softly. Even if I will never curse Tiffania for it, even if I had forgiven her for tearing me away, even if I truly believed that kindness like hers was a treasure, I will never thank her for it. "Does that answer the questions you have, Louise?" I asked her politely.

"Yes," she whispered. "It does, Shirou."

I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. When I opened them, I was once more giving a crooked half grin. "Now, it is my turn to ask you something." Louise blinked, and seemed to realize that her eyes were moist. As she hurried to rub them I continued. "Why have you not yet summoned another?"

"What?" she asked, confused by my question. "What do you mean?"

"You must have known that I was gone," I pointed out. "Isn't it a custom of this land to summon again if a familiar dies? Instead you cross two countries which had been at war with each other, with no other companions besides Siesta. I mean, yes, Siesta can be pretty fierce and handy to have around," I admitted, wincing internally in remembrance of just how good she had gotten with that frying pan, "but I do find the fact that you would go out on a hunt for a Servant you knew was dead without proper protection to be a little unnerving."

"B-b-but you weren't dead," Louise defended, blushing and looking down at my chiding.

"However the hunt turned out, that doesn't mean that you were right to do it," I scolded her. "You know just how dangerous it can be out here. Why didn't you call forth a new summon?"

"I didn't want to," Louise petulantly muttered eventually. She kept her gaze on the ground as she answered. "I knew that you were gone, but it was like if I ever tried the summoning spell and it worked, then it would mean that you really were dead. I just couldn't bring myself to do it." She sighed. "Maybe I should have. If I had just recast the summons I could have brought you back without having to take this long trip."

I blinked. I hadn't even thought of that. "You know, that just might have worked," I admitted. "Then again, it might not have."

"You don't know?" Louise asked, her head cocking to the side in curiosity. "I thought you were the expert in summoning here."

I winced. "Well, honestly, the Summon Servant of my home world is completely different than the one you seem to use around here. It was used to call Heroic Spirits and things like that. I'd never even heard of it calling forth just an ordinary human like me."

Louise froze. She blinked, and then opened her mouth before freezing again. "Shirou," she growled at me slowly. "Are you telling me that all the things you told me about how human summons happened in your homeland was a lie?" Her fist was raised again, her wand clutched in it and shaking slightly as her eye twitched.

I gave her a smirk. "Not at all," I assured her. "Just creatively misinterpreted in order to suit my own needs." Her eyelid twitched again and her hand began shaking harder. "Oh get over it," I snorted at her. "Everything I said was true, I just left out that most human summons involved humans who had transmigrated after death to a higher state of existence is all."

"Then wouldn't they technically not be human anymore at all?" Louise asked, sounding entirely too patient for someone who was shaking with rage.

"It worked out the best for you in the end," I pointed out, crossing my arms with amusement. "Yeah, I adapted the protocols to suit my needs, but in the end it was all true. I just applied it to myself instead of to an ascended pseudo-divine entity. It just meant that you had a summon that was willing to perform as you needed." I cocked my head to the side. "That was probably a result of the peculiarities of your own Summon Servant spell," I noted. Louise's other eye was twitching as well now. "If it worked under the assumption that the one that would be summoned was most ideal for the summoner, than having someone who was willing to obey was probably one of the biggest reason that I was called in the first place."

"Worked out," she ground out. "Worked out he says. He twists the entire thing about in whatever way he wants, and then when it's all done he tells me that he was making it up on the spot. All works out, he says..."

I rolled my eyes. "Stop being so over dramatic. Imagine how it would have turned out if you had summoned someone who didn't have the convenient Master/Servant model to base their actions off of. What would it have been like if you just summoned someone who had no experience at all with this kind of thing as a Servant? How well do you think they would have reacted to some of the earlier scenes we found ourselves in?"

Louise's grimace widened a bit, but her fist gradually stopped shaking. Finally, she let her hand fall back to her side with a sigh. "You know what?" she admitted sounding tired. "You're probably right." She opened her eyes as she rubbed the back of her head awkwardly with her wand. "Towards the beginning there I might have acted a little over the top as a Master." She turned her attention back to me, her expression curious now. "So what do you think will happen when I cast it again? Do you think we'll be able to reestablish our contract?" She sounded hopeful. She might have heard my reasoning for why the two of us should separate for a bit, but it didn't change the fact that she still would prefer that I stay with her anyway.

"I don't know," I admitted, shrugging. "At the time I really was probably the best person you could have summoned. Not just because I was willing to serve, but also because I was able to offer my support as you started to grasp your magic, and had the experience and skills to protect you while you learned. Now though?" I put a hand on her head and messed up her hair fondly. She puffed her cheeks out and turned red while she attempted to ineffectually bat my hands away. "Now you're fast developing as a magi, with a variety of experiences both on and off the battle field. You've changed, and not just because of me. Maybe what you need now is something different than a twisted savior."

Louise took in my self-deprecating smile with a thoughtful look. I could almost make out the gears in her head moving as she folded her arms and began staring at the ground, deep in thought. With a casual look away I took in the clearing we were standing in.

Than I froze. Blinking, I rubbed my eyes, and looked again.

"Louise," I began casually. She hummed in response, still deep in thought over something. "Louise," I said again, nudging her softly.

"Hm? What is it Shirou," she glanced up at me, narrowing her eyes as she stared hard at me for some reason.

"Why are we surrounded by little dolls with sharp objects?" I asked, my head cocked to the side in confusion.

"Eh?" Louise grunted curiously, and then looked around. "Eh!" she emoted again, this time in surprise.

Surrounding us was a loose gathering of what I could only describe as adorable dollies holding cute little swords. Coming up to no higher than shin height, the wide collection of tiny mechanical figures twitched as they moved like clockwork toys. There were a good number of them, perhaps as many as twenty though there may have been more concealed in the shadows of the treas. There forms were diverse to say the least. I saw one that looked like some kind of lion, walking on two legs with a bright red spiky mane carved into it. Another was a black cat replete with crown and small cloth cape also standing upright. The weirdest one by far, which was surrounded by stylized orc statues, was what appeared to be a giant onion clad in red armor carrying a sword and a shield.

"Alviss," Derflinger spoke up, identifying our adorable ambushers. "Magic dolls. Unlike golems, who need the orders of the magi who created them, once an alviss is created it can go about its task without supervision.

"Indeed," a strong voice emerged from the night. Emerging from the shadows as though surfacing from a pool of water a figure strode to the edge of the clearing, making its presence known. Despite the cloak concealing most of its features its shape was distinctly feminine, and long dark hair pooled out from within the shadows of her cowl.

I'm sure it was a practiced technique of hers, and honestly she pulled off the whole 'one with darkness' quite well; she had even managed to elevate the performance from 'silly' to 'ominous' in my book, and I had tough standards for when it came to achieving ominous.

The woman continued, her voice measured and proud. "Miss Valliere, User of the Void," she nodded at Louise, "and Shirou Emiya, Gandalfr." Louise straightened at having been identified by her element, and I deliberately took a step to place myself between the stranger and my former Master. The woman had done a fairly good job of building up the atmosphere.

So when she suddenly curtsied politely, it was a little offsetting.

"How do you do?" she asked as she gave her courtly greeting. "It is delightful to be able to meet you both here at this time!" If her voice was anything to judge by, then it seemed the strange woman was being honest. She even let loose a stifled little giggle, before one shrouded arm went up to her concealed face. "Forgive my exuberance," she asked, sounding a little embarrassed. "It is simply the first time I have been able to meet ones such as yourself, and I'm afraid it has made me overly excited."

"No harm done," I assured her, glancing around at the surrounding forces. What appeared to be a little cactus covered in glistening spines was bouncing excitedly nearby. "Not yet anyway," I muttered.

The cloaked woman didn't comment on my aside. Instead she seemed focused mostly on my presence. With both of her arms clasped in front of her she spoke again. "I have been following Miss Valliere for some time, but did not expect to be able to come across you in these parts, Gandalfr," she admitted, before pausing. "Forgive me," she asked politely. "I could not help but overhear some of your conversation. Is it true that you no longer carry the title? That you are no longer a, how did you put it, Servant?"

I grimaced. Why hadn't I noticed that there was someone spying on the two of us? Have I become that slow, or was this woman just that good? "Exactly," I admitted freely. "No longer a Gandalfr. I'm just a helpless lost lamb now. Why, without the runes I don't know a scabbard from a blade anymore," I delivered the boldface lie easily.

"A pity," the woman said softly. "Tell me," she began. "If you are a free man once more, would you be interested in a position? My own Master would be quiet pleased to have one such as you with them."

"Perhaps," I admitted slowly. "But perhaps you should introduce yourself first, and say for what purpose you have confronted us?" I suggested, my tone still polite.

The woman let loose a low chuckle. It sounded very amused by my lack of overt reaction. "Yes. My Master would be quite fond of you indeed!" My eyes narrowed at her second use of the word 'Master'. Why do I have a bad feeling about this? "It isn't often to come across one whom is so willing to follow the rules, even in unfamiliar situations. And my Master is indeed fond of the rules. Very well," the woman stepped forward further lowering her cowl as she did so. "I am called Sheffield, though it is not my name. And I am the, how did you put it?" her head lowered, and an unpleasant smile split her face as she seemed to search her memory for some little tidbit. "Yes, I am the Servant Myozuntnirn, the Mind of God. I too am a familiar to the Void."

The face beneath the cowl was sharp and dark. Her hair was very similar to Henrietta's, a shade that hovered between brunette and black and was best described as purple, though the woman before me was a shade darker than the queen's. Her features were austere, and might have been considered beautiful if they weren't so cold. From beneath her eyes to sharp spikes of maroon were etched into her cheeks, an effect that made her seem like she might be crying daggers. The most noticeable feature was on her forehead: etched into her flesh, just as they had once been etched into my hand, were glowing runes.

"A pleasure, I'm sure," I murmured. By the Root, how was it the element was considered to be extinct if they just kept popping out of the wood work like they seemed to? "And your purpose?" I continued, my voice bland. At my side, both my hands were open and curled, as though wrapped around invisible hilts.

The unpleasant smile on her face grew wider at my lack of excited reaction. "I've come for the Founder's Prayer Book that the little girl behind you has," she declared, drawing herself upright. The dolls surrounding us had up to this point been rustling around quietly. At her declaration every one of them pointed a weapon and stilled like statues. On their foreheads a single glowing ruin, identical on all of them began to burn with a malevolent violet light. "Hand it over now, and I shall be on my way."

"How answer you, Louise?" I asked the girl behind me, stepping to the side without looking away from the Servant in front of me.

Louise, whom I had been blocking from view while she had been casting, finished her chant. "Explosion!" she declared, pointing her wand at the woman before us.

Naturally, Sheffield exploded. Unfortunately, rather than bursting into little flesh bits, she instead burst into more separate and distinct dolls, her cloak shredding as the alviss that she had been composed of were spread across the clearing. The rest of the hoard that surrounded us seemed to take this as a sign to commence hostilities.

The first one to draw close enough to me was a little shin size orc. As tempting as it was for me to simply boot it in its little head, I instead held my hands together in front of me.

Trace on.

In my grip formed an intricate mace. Its shaft was composed of soft sandalwood, carved intricately in ascending spirals, and its handle was firmly wrapped with rough black leather that was embroidered with delicate gold threads. The head of the mace was a bulbous steel construction of dozens of sharp metal studs. It was the creation of a French doll maker from the seventeen hundreds back in my home world. The maker, a man by the name of Lemarchand had been famous for the intricacies of the joints and clockwork that he set into each of his figurines. One time, and one time only, he had been tempted into turning those delicate skills to something weaponry. The end creation that I held in my hand, the Dollmaster's Mace was the result.

When the alviss shaped like an orc drew close enough, I used the mace to bash half its little toy head in. As it struck, the mace released a clicking noise, and the puppet fell as though all its strings were all cut at once.

"What are they, Derflinger?" I asked the sword still strapped on my back. A second alviss drew closer, and third right behind it. The strike to the second one, a bright red lion shaped one crushed its little head completely, and the third strike pulped the constructed skull of the third, sending gears and wood bits spraying into the dark behind it.

"Alviss," the sword answered back immediately, sounding as though it was speaking from memory. "They may not seem like much, but they're famous for being called 'mage killers'."

"Why's that?" Louise asked behind me, her voice matching mine in its intensity. As I had moved to defend her back, she had wheeled to keep her back to me without hesitation. Her wand flicked twice, and two smaller explosions echoed through the night air. The first one had hit its target, exploding what appeared to be a small lizard wearing a robe and carrying a lantern, but the third was dodged by the small nimble bright yellow bird doll behind it.

"They're easy to take one on one," the sword explained as I bashed two more of the alviss that drew close enough. Each strike dealt more and more damage than the one before it. "But in groups it's hard for mages to cast enough spells fast enough before one of them gets close enough to get the mage." The sword sounded troubled. "But I've never seen this many being used at one time! The woman must be controlling them, but I don't know how!"

I could see why. Most of the mages in this world took a few moments to gather enough power to cast their spells. If three of these things were approaching from three different directions the mage would only be able to target one of them at a time. A slow mage would probably only manage to take down one before a second was on them. A fast mage could probably take out two of them. But in that time the third would have closed in and the mage would be out of time to cast the final spell to save themselves. It was a good tactic, but one that human's couldn't do on their own. Sure, three people charging would have the same effect, and would probably be faster and more likely to succeed. But probably at least one of them would meet a gory end, and it'd be hard to find three people who were willing to take a risk that big. The alviss on the other hand, they wouldn't have any other choice but to obey their orders and the probability of one or two of them being destroyed wouldn't affect their very limited thinking capabilities.

"That's right," Sheffield's voice drifted through the night air. "Most mages would have fallen to them already." Her voice sounded amused. I grimaced. One of those types: the kind that liked to sit around gloating and watch as their enemies struggled. I hated those types. "Though they're not as effective against soldiers and swordsmen like yourself, but I think that even a 'lost and helpless lamb' like yourself might find them too much in the end." Sadistic laughter echoed through the clearing as she repeated my lie from earlier. "As I said earlier, I am the Myozuntnirn, the Mind of God, just as Gandalfr is the Left Hand, the Shield of God. Just as you could use any weapon, so to can I use any magic artifact."

To emphasize her gloating, from the darkness around us, spread over the floor of the forest, along the limbs of the trees, more purple ruins began to glow; first one, then a dozen, then even more.

Damn.

"Louise," I called to her, Dollmaster sweeping in a wide arc. It hit four alviss this time, and now each one it touched burst into pieces at every blow. "Do you have anything that can take them all out at once?"

Still behind me, matching every one of my moves with her own, Louise called back. "Yes, but only if I have time to chant." Against numbers like this, a half assed spell would be useless. If Louise was going to use her art, then it seemed like I was going to have to play the role that I had just gotten out of.

"Go on then," I told her, and once more Dollmaster was swung. This time the alviss struck exploded into even smaller pieces.

Normally if I were to have to guard a mage while they cast, I'd try to find a tall tree to put their backs to, or an alcove in a rock formation. I'd try to get as many of their sides covered as possible, seeing as most of the mages in this world seemed incapable of chanting their magic and moving at the same time.

Most mages hadn't forced their Servants to beat on them in single combat until they had no choice but to learn just that skill.

If that leering bitch Sheffield had been expecting the pure numbers to be enough to over whelm me while I guarded my pink haired little companion, then she was in for a surprise. Rather than planting her feet and forcing me to move around her to match the hoard that was bearing down on us, Louise just kept moving even as she chanted. We had fought together too many times, we had learned the others skills, how the other thought, what the other would do to such an extent that even as she turned most of her concentration to preparing a spell, she continued to keep herself at my back. She could no longer provide me cover there like she had been earlier, using small dot class equivalent bursts of explosive magic, but it let me maneuver her out of harm's way even as the battle raged on.

In order to compensate for the loss of protection to my rear, I trusted on my reinforcement and my weapon. When Lemarchand had constructed the weapon, even while attempting to make a weapon of war, his obvious affinity for dolls bled through. Dollmaster, at the beginning of battle was an inert weapon, completely mundane and totally devoid of any magic at all. But when it struck a construct of any kind the gears in the head would turn, and it, just like Derflinger on my back, would suck the magic of whatever it had struck into it. Not all of it, but enough for it to begin building a charge. With each blow afterwards, it would release a little of the stored magic as concussive force even as it would drink that much more from whatever golem or puppet it struck. Bit by bit as the battle went on, so long as it was fighting something magically animated, its stores would swell and swell, and the damage it dealt would grow and grow.

By this point in the battle, after it had drank its fill of dozens of alviss, it had reached the point where the shattered remains left behind after each strike were roughly the size of toothpicks.

As Louise behind me continued to murmur the incantation to her spell, I couldn't help but feel a jarring sense of finality. I suppose Louise hadn't been the only one who had been hesitant to truly believe that our contract was over. I had known when the runes had disappeared, when holding a weapon in my hand no longer brought forth the thrill of magic in my circuits to strengthen me, that the contract was over. But for the first time hearing Louise's chant did not fill me with the wild reckless abandon it had always brought before. It was no longer a call to battle, a promise of victory. It was just a spell being cast.

"Marvelous," Sheffield laughed from wherever she was watching from. Honestly, the lady was really beginning to piss me off. "Even without a contract, you are still marvelous! So this is the strength of the King of Swords that rumor has whispered of! It is a shame I could not have met you earlier, before you lost your runes!" Her mocking laughter rang through the night.

Okay. This was just getting creepy. A definite Caster type, who hides in the dark, uses dolls and puppets to do her bidding, tends to wear a large black cloak, and talks way too much.

"You wouldn't happen to be related to Medea of Colchis by any chance?" I called out cautiously. By the Root, I had hated that twisted bitch. Not quite as much as I had hated Gilgamesh, but it was very close in my book.

"Hmm? Who?" the voice asked, breaking off from her insane laughter in confusion. Around me, the alviss I was smashing to bits paused, and I took advantage of their hesitation to smash a row of them ruthlessly. Dollmaster was becoming hot in my hands. I don't think it had ever been in a situation where their actually had ever been enough constructs for it to destroy for it to ever become completely full of magic, but it looks like I might be close to finding that undiscovered threshold. I sighed in relief at the lack of recognition in the crazy girl attacking us.

"Thank the Root. I don't think I could have handled having to deal with that one again," I muttered. Again, I yelled out into the night. "So, if you don't mind me asking, who is your Master and where can I find them?"

"Do you really think it'll be that easy?" Sheffield responded, sounding amused by my direct approach.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I told her blithely. I grimaced. I hate the chatty ones. Despite that, I continued to talk. Normally it was against my philosophy, but against numbers like this I decided to take a page from Agnes' book.

Earlier, when I had asked her about her relation to that witch Medea, there had been a lull in the battle. That meant that despite their relative autonomy, the alviss were being controlled in some method by Myozuntnirn. If I could distract her, then I could by time for Louise to finish her spell. I briefly considered trying to track her position from her voice, but earlier she had used dolls to make a simulacrum of her, so that method was unreliable.

"Hey, you like magic artifacts?" I called instead. "I have a perfectly good magic mace here that I'm willing to sell."

"Really?" Sheffield asked, her voice dry and dripping with sarcasm. "How much?" she asked, playing along with my ploy. At least the chatty ones were easily distracted.

"Well, we'd have to negotiate. Why don't you come on out here so we can talk about it?" Naturally, negotiations would probably end up being me trying to cave her skull in. Dollmaster was fast approaching the edge of its endurance and the heat of its hilt was beginning to burn my hand.

"How droll," the woman in the forest returned, an audible sneer in her tone. "Are you trying to be funny?" she demanded, sounding haughty as she looked down on my tried and true distraction tactics. "Because if you are…"

That was as far as she got. Taking a chance, I aimed towards her voice, drew back the burning mace in my hand, and threw it as hard as I could. It screamed through the air as it flew into the forest. Every doll it encountered, every tree limb, every rock, it shattered into tiny bits of shrapnel, the pieces exploding outwards with dangerous force as it finally had a chance to vent on targets that it couldn't feed off of as well. Whatever Sheffield was about to say was cut off as a cacophony of crashes spread throughout the forest as the mace carved an arc through the woods that left trees creaking and crashing to the ground.

It only lasted for a moment, but every doll in the clearing froze, the runes etched on their foreheads flickering briefly. In the lull, I drew Derflinger, sweeping the magic drinking sword around me in wide arcs, cutting down as many of the little alviss as I could. Just as with Dollmaster, every puppet it touched crumpled to the earth.

"Finally, partner," the sword chided me. "I was growing bored sitting around back there!"

"Don't worry," I told it, eying the hundreds of dolls as the runes solidified, and they all turned as one back to me and the pink haired mage I was protecting. "There's plenty left."

"Tricky," the voice came from the darkness again. This time, it was from the complete opposite direction of from where I had thrown. I knew it wouldn't be that easy. "So you're more than just some simple swordsman, King of Swords?"

That title again. Has it really gotten that popular? I said nothing in return. The time for talking was over for me.

Though I had initially meant that thought to simply mean that I wasn't going to respond to her taunts any more, a second later Louise made it literal.

"Dispel!" she screamed out, her wand flashing as a finished her spell. Just as it had at the Ragdorian Lake, a vast pulse of magic distorted reality, rocketing out from the tiny figure at its center, leaving empty shells in its wake as each and every alviss was reduced to lifeless bundles.

When the last alviss fell, and silence stretched into the night once more, Sheffield spoke up one last time. I grimaced as she did so. I wish I could have saved Dollmaster for this occasion, seeing as now I was almost positive that the speaker was the real Myozuntnirn and not her showing her ventriloquism skills through one of her little toys. Sadly, it probably wouldn't have mattered. The mace itself would have probably survived Louise's spell, but it would have most likely stripped all its stored power away, leaving it just another inert mace awaiting a recharge. "My Master has seen enough for the day," the puppet master called out. When she spoke again, I noticed that her voice had moved between sentences. It looked like she was leery of giving me a clear target. "He looks forward to the day he and you can fight properly, Miss Valliere." Her voice once more held a mocking lilt to it as she addressed the pink haired girl. Then her voice changed again, and this time it held eagerness in it as she addressed me. "And I too, look forward to our next encounter, King of Swords."

No more was said that night, and the two of us were left standing in a shattered clearing, surrounded by broken dolls, and wondering just what in the name of the Root had happened.

*Scene Break*

"Partner," Derflinger spoke softly. "Are you sure about this?"

"Yes," I told it back just as softly. "This is the most effective way to do it."

It was very early, or perhaps still very late. After the battle last night, just as we were beginning to return, Agnes and Siesta had both charged into the clearing, one with sword and pistol in hand and ready to fight, the other clutching a frying pan and just as ready to do battle. They had been disappointed to have missed the fight, and we had spent nearly an hour relaying the information we had managed to gather.

That there was another Void user, that they were watching Louise carefully, and that for all we could determine, they seemed completely insane. Last night's battle had been pointless. Attacking a User of the Void and a skilled swordsman with nothing more than an army of dolls, no matter how large it was? They must have known it wouldn't have succeeded. That meant just one thing to me: they hadn't intended to win. They had intended to study us, to see our abilities.

More than that, and this was the part that ate at me, they had intended for us to know theirs as well. Whoever Sheffield's Master was, he was definitely a user of the Void, and thus his abilities could be compared to Louise's. They may be more powerful than her, but they could just as equally be less powerful. All of Louise's spells had come from the Founder's Prayer Book. The question was how many other grimoires containing knowledge of the lost art were out there? Were they more complete, or less complete? There was no way of knowing for certain, but it still meant that whomever their skills were, they'd be comparable to the pink haired user. The problem was Myozuntnirn. She had made no effort to conceal what her abilities were. In fact, she had announced them proudly.

That wasn't a winning strategy. She had already known my own abilities, my own title from the start. She had been prepared. She had been able to get close to us, to set up an ambush in complete silence. Why hadn't she struck us down from the first?

There were a few reasons I could think of. And none of them were good.

Which was why after everyone else had succumb to sleep after the impromptu debriefing, I had lingered awake, and once it was quiet, I had gathered my supplies and prepared to leave.

"As it stands now, they simply have too much intelligence on us," I explained my reasoning again to the sword as I tightened the straps on my boots and pack, double checking all my supplies. I had gathered them together in silence, and then assembled the pack out back, away from the house proper. It was cold and uncomfortable, but it was better than Tiffania's ears picking up on my movements and waking. "Tomorrow, Louise will summon again. Whomever she calls to her will most likely be granted the same class I was. By now the girl is experienced enough to not make a mess of it if she pulls someone who isn't quite as prepared as I was. With the new Gandalfr besides her, she'll be safe enough, especially if she stays to the academy and her estates. They'll have to keep an eye on her, if only to wait for a chance to come after her again."

With one last tug, I finished my preparations. "Meanwhile, I'll be out of sight. However far the rumors have spread, by now they're most likely getting more and more ridiculous. Even if they've heard of the so called 'King of Swords'…" I snorted at the ostentatious title. Really. Why swords? Why not blades? It would have been much more accurate. "…by now the rumors probably have me as being thirty feet tall and shooting lightning out of my eyes. While I'm traveling incognito I can do some investigating of my own. Someone as distinctive as Sheffield should stand out. And even if she proves hard to track down, I know what to look for when it comes to finding void mages."

"It sounds like you've thought this through, partner," the sword acknowledged softly. "Are you sure about me though?" It sounded forlorn. "I wouldn't mind coming along. I've been wielded by plenty of Gandalfr's in my time. But none of them have been as good a partner as you have."

"And I've wielded plenty of swords as well," I smiled back at it. "And none of them have ever known as many dirty jokes as you. But even if Louise does summon a new Gandalfr and not me again, there's no certainty that they'll know what they're doing. I'd feel more at ease on the road knowing that something I can trust is there to keep an eye on that crazy girl."

"Heh," the sword grunted. It sounded vaguely amused. "Yeah. Noble girl there does need someone to keep an eye on her." I paused at the door to the cottage, and the sword gave its goodbye. "Take care, Shirou."

"You too, Derflinger. I'll see you around."

Slipping one last time into the dark cottage, I left the sword on the table in plain sight. I had thought about leaving a note, but still didn't know how to read or write this world's letters, and so had decided to just let Derflinger pass on the message.

Shouldering my pack once more, I disappeared into the night.

*Scene Break*

I made good time, cutting through the forest as the dawn finally broke. I navigated through the woods till I came to the logging site of the town, and then started to follow the river downstream. After a few hours of fast travel, I found my way to the sawing town that the workers of Westwood did their trade in, and from there, I made my way to the dusty road that led past the little village.

It was around noon that I came to the crossroad. The branch on my left led towards Rosais, the port town where Cromwell had originally met his end. The other branch led towards Londinium. I was trying to decide whether I should go to the scene of the accident to begin looking for clues for the present location of the Ring of Andvari, or head towards the capital in order to try and find some of the guardsmen who might have been present there to see if any of them had recovered it for the treasury, when the portal opened in front of me.

It hung in the air, just like I remember it doing the first time I had ever witnessed it. The smooth green ovaloid, it's surface reflecting the surroundings around it with the briefest of sheens. Around me, other travelers passed by, never noticing its presence, unconsciously avoiding it.

Well. It looks like despite myself, I'm still needed after all. I suppose I could walk away, but then again, what if I did and no one else came through it for Louise? Or what if the strange thing started following me like a puppy?

I sighed, and despite myself, a small smile crossed my lips. Well then. It probably wouldn't do to keep her waiting. She'd probably get vindictive if I did that.

I walked into the portal.

Just as it had before, the universe swept around me, a black inky void that felt like oil on my skin as it brushed over me. I closed my eyes, waiting for it to end. The trip was much quicker this time, the distance traveled significantly less than however far my home world was from this one. My landing was smoother too. Instead of depositing me a couple dozen feet in the air, this time I only fell a few inches as I landed in the cabin I had left this morning.

Opening my eyes, I began to repeat the words I had spoken once before, as they were spoken to me once before when…

"You sneaky little witch!" I gasped, pointing at Louise in accusation.

"Oh? Was he that impolite the first time?" Agnes asked Louise, smirking while she did so. The pink haired little girl gave a satisfied grin, one that reeked of self congratulatory smugness.

"I wouldn't know," she admitted, turning up her nose daintily. "Last time he couldn't speak the language till I blew him up once."

"Don't try and change the subject, Louise," I ordered her, gritting my teeth and rubbing my forehead with one hand. That didn't seem to work, so I discarded my pack so I could use the other hand as well. Siesta happily flounced over, taking the pack while humming and neatly putting it to the side.

"Yo, partner!" Derflinger called out from the table where it still rested on. "It looks like we're going to be working together again!"

"Not now, Derflinger," I snapped, still glaring at Louise. Massaging my forehead seemed to bring me no relief, so I settled for pointing an accusatory finger at her. "You used my blood as a reagent!"

There, stretched across Louise's knees were my tattered old blue jeans. No amount of cleaning would probably ever be enough to remove every trace of the blood I had spilled on it. I don't know how she had managed to find it. I thought Tiffania had thrown them away weeks ago. She must have spent the entire morning hunting them down from wherever they had ended up, just so she could use it for her summons.

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about," Louise ignored my accusation dismissively, tossing the jeans to the side. Siesta picked them up as well, and still humming began to fold them neatly.

"Did you not understand what I was trying to do?" I grit out clenching one of my hands into a fist in my hair. "Didn't I explain my reasons well enough for you?"

"Oh, I understood," Louise assured me, standing as tall as her short stature could bring her, crossing her arms proudly. "I just didn't care. The question is, what are you going to do now?" Her eyebrow rose in challenge as she continued to smirk at me.

Helplessly, I stared at her. Finally, I couldn't stop myself. I started to laugh.

"Um," Tiffania spoke up, one hand on her lip as she leaned forward to study me carefully. "Are you sure this was alright?"

"It will be fine," Louise assured the half elf. Patiently, she waited, smirk in place.

"Fine," I finally managed to get out, still shaking from the laughter. "Fine," I repeated. "You win." I held both my hands up helplessly as I gave in. It looks like I had severely underestimated just how much steel my little Louise had in her. Serves me right.

Smiling proudly, Louise agreed. "Yes. Yes I did," she nodded decisively.

Finally, I managed to stop my laughter. The smile still spread my lips in a smirk. Standing to my full height, I looked down at the mage in front of me. My voice quiet, I spoke. "Servant Gandalfr. Upon your summoning, I have come forth. I ask of you, are you my Master?"

"Yes, Servant Gandalfr," Lousie answered, the smile disappearing from her face, her expression growing solemn, intense. The first time, she had been unprepared. We hadn't understood each other, and not just each other's languages. This time, this time was different. "I am your Master, Louise Lu Blanc de La Vallierre."

The room had grown silent, and the atmosphere grew heavy around our observers. No one here had before seen our pact. No one knew this ritual.

"Master," I addressed her. "Your orders?"

"Kneel," she commanded, stretching one arm to the side in punctuation. Straight back, as a knight before a queen, I took my knee before her. Reaching out she placed both her hands on either side of my face. Staring me in the eyes, she spoke. "Pentagram of the five elemental powers. Bless this being and make him my Servant."

Once more, she sealed the contract.

When she finished, I threw back my head with a hiss. Brining my left hand up, I unhooked the sleeve from my finger, baring its back. Smoke emitted from my hand, and runes glowed there as though being burnt from beneath. I bore it, though Siesta and Tiffania both shifted in sympathetic pain as they watched. Finally it finished. I clenched my fist, and my fingers popped as they relieved the stress that the marking had put there.

"From now on," I spoke, "you will have my swords, and your destiny shall be mine. This completes our pact."

As Master and Servant once more, as noble and knight, Louise and I smiled as one.

*Scene Break*

_That night, after a long day of preparing for their departure, packing and sending messages to the appropriate parties, Louise slept in the arms of her Servant once more. _

_ Just as before, there was nothing sexual in it, nothing soft. Shirou propped himself against a wall, and Louise rested in his arms. At her back, Shirou held his sword, sheathed to defend her. In her sleeve, Louise grasped her wand, the wood of it warm in her hands, ready to draw and cast at a moment's notice. There was no real need for their position, neither of them expected an enemy to approach. But nonetheless, it was an act they both participated in, a re-acquaintance with a tradition that they both had missed._

_ Before sleep claimed her, Louise spent some time watching her slumbering Servant; her poor, self destructive and self loathing slumbering Servant. Not for the first time, she realized just how hypocritical he truly was._

_ He hadn't even noticed. For all that he spoke of how she had changed, of how he had influenced her, of how she would be better off without him, he hadn't once noticed. _

_ She hadn't been the only one changed during their time together._

_ When she had first met him, he had been sharp, so sharp. But also brittle. He had the air of a blade, stressed to the point of cracking, a weapon used to the edge of its endurance, and was about to shatter from the strain of it. But as time went on, that had slowly changed. In the beginning, there was not a soul about him he would not have killed at her command. Towards the end, he was talking her out of taking just that path at times._

_ In the beginning, the only smile he bore was cynical, the only laugh he used bitter. Towards the end, his smiles had begun to have happiness in them, and his laughter had become more honest._

_ In the beginning, he had been alone, standing pristine and unblemished as the world passed him by. Towards the end, he had people around him he had been willing to call friends, not just 'potential enemies'._

_ The hypocrite. He could only see how he had affected her. Shirou still couldn't see how Louise had affected him._

_ Maybe she wasn't the one who had truly needed him, when the summoning had sought him out; maybe he had been the one who needed her._

_ 'Saber,' she thought to herself. 'You lucky bitch. Don't hold it against me, but I'm going to be keeping an eye on your Master for a bit longer.'_

_ Someday, he would find his hill of swords. Louise couldn't begrudge him that. He had earned it, and when the day came, she would shed tears for him, but not out of sorrow. She would honestly be happy that Shirou had finally managed to fulfill the prophecy, and that he and his Arturia would finally be able to be together._

_ But until that day, she was going to make damn sure that his life was full of happiness, that he could remember just what it was he was saving. That he would be surrounded by friends, and if he could ever bring himself to participate properly, family._

_ And she would make double damn sure, in the name of Founder Brimir and the Root, whatever that was, that when he finally fell on the hill of swords, he wouldn't be alone._

_ A Servant who allows harm to their Master might not be a Servant, but a magician who abandoned their familiar is definitely not a magician at all._

_ And so, safe in the arms of her once again Servant, Louise slept._

_ As she slept, she dreamt of swords and battles._

_ It was the best rest she had gotten in months._


	17. Distant Utopia: The Seventeenth night

Hill of Swords: Distant Utopia: the Seventeenth night

Author's notes: First off I'd like to blame my delay on yet another very foolish thing I did as an author. Something even more terrifying and debilitating then even googling my story like I did before. I blame a number of my reviewers for this actually:

I discovered the tvtrope website.

Naturally, through clever use of what I suspect was hypnotic suggestion in the advertisements on the side, and probably subliminal messaging written into the articles themselves, I quickly found myself for endless hours on end clicking on trope after trope. Before I knew it, it had been days. But the true insidious horror of the site was that afterward, when I started writing again, I found myself unconsciously beginning to write them in as 'shout outs'.

Curse you TVTropes! Curse you for being so addictive!

Now that that's out of the way, another heads up for the story itself. First off, I decided that one of the scenes in here is just not going to be enough on its own for even the most even tempered of F/SN fans, so I decided to go ahead and put a brief time line for this Shirou's holy grail war listing just what the differences between it and the actual story lines were. I had thought about doing this before, but had decided that I liked the way that I left it in ambiguity before hand. This time though I'm specifically mentioning one of the changes I had in mind for Shirou, so I figured I'd go ahead and preempt all the reviews trying to be helpful by pointing it out to me.

*Minor Spoilers for the Game* This Shirou, who is now officially AU to the three main story lines and the anime, starts off following the Fate path up to the confrontation with Berserker. There, Rin uses a command spell and pulls Archer back before he dies, leaving him only wounded and in spirit form when the final confrontation with Berserker happens. From there, it follows the Caster arc from Unlimited Blade Works, ignoring with Shinji still already being dead, and Gilgamesh not getting involved and Ilya alive and in the background. When Shirou/Saber's contract gets broke by Caster, it was on Saber's side instead of Shirou, so Shirou still has his command spells like Rin did when Archer broke off from her. Lancer gets involved, but rather than because he was trying to find a new Master, he was just acting out against Kotomine for being such a cowardly Master, and Kotmine lets it partially because he doesn't like the idea of Caster making her own grail, and partly just so he can watch what happens. When it comes time for Saber to make a new contract at the end of the arc, she does so again with Shirou, via his conection to her through Avalon rather than to Rin. From there it's back to the Fate route, restarting right along the time Shirou takes Saber out on the date.

Hopefully that will be enough for all you F/SNers to work with, and maybe even give you a frame of reference to work with for all the times in the past when I had been referencing scenes from all the different arcs.

Now, onto the chapter specifically. Nothing to special I want to call attention to in this one. It mostly served as a way to change the scenery from Albion back to the Academy. A couple of serious scenes, a couple of funny scenes (well, at least I hope everyone else finds them as amusing to read as I did to write). I think the biggest thing I'd like to point out and ask opinions on is the change in nature of the dream sequences at the end. Since I've already used it for the majority of the development I needed it to supply for Shirou, now the scenes at the end are used to highlight Louise's personal thoughts on what's happening. Let me know how you think of that change of pace.

As always, if you like it, let me know. If there's something bugging you, write it out and if its something I can work around I just might.

Oh yeah, and if you're already familiar with tvtropes, it appears that someone has been setting up a page on "Hill of Swords" there as well. I'm finding it almost as amusing to read as the reviews themselves, so if you're interested, you should check it out as well.

Now, on with the story!

*Story Start*

"How long do you think they'll be at it?" Derflinger asked me in a curious tone of voice.

"Oh, probably a good five or ten minutes," I assured it, sounding bored. Agnes glanced over at the two of us, her business face set with a slight glare at our impropriety. "This whole thing is one of those important feminine bonding moment type things," I explained. In front of us Louise and Henrietta were both hugging each other and crying emotionally.

After Louise and I had reestablished our contract it had taken less than six days for us to make it back to the palace in Tristain. We had been traveling in style the whole ride. Once we made it back to Rosais, the port town in Albion, we had been greeted by the ship assigned to us for the trip back to La Rochelle. It had been an interesting experience, seeing as the ship that was apparently meant to act as our ferry was the flagship of the Tristain air fleet, a massive war boat called the Varsenda. The captain had greeted Agnes and Louise politely, and me nervously, while ignoring Siesta who had slipped back into her handmaiden role for Louise while amongst polite company. We were given the finest quarters on the ship and waited on hand and foot, our every need met instantly. It was nearly enjoyable, if I ignored the fact that just about everyone there had spent most of their time in my presence staring in awe and whispering behind their hands.

I swear, to the Root, the Throne, and the Five True Magics, if I hear that damn stupid title one more time, I'm going to do something very unpleasant to someone who is probably very important.

Once we arrived back at La Rochelle, we had been greeted by a contingent of wind dragons, a species of the flying lizards that were apparently separate from the usual dragons used for war. Wind dragons were completely incapable of using fire, having no breath attack at all. Instead, they made themselves useful by being nearly twice as fast as their most aggressive counterparts. We had separated with Siesta there, the maid being supplied a horse and guard at my insistence so that she could head back to the academy safely entrusted with all of our supplies, and from there boarded the wind dragons to be taken directly to the palace proper. I had been exceedingly grateful that the wind dragons had been trained enough not to do anything embarrassing to me, but I think it had unnerved the riders when the beasts had had a quick scuffle over which one of them I was going to be riding on personally.

And all of that led up to this moment in particular, where I stand awkwardly by patiently as the two girls hugged each other like the old friends they were, Henrietta using the instance to apologize for having been responsible for all the generals overstepping their bounds and making unreasonable requests of her, and Louise assuring the queen that it was fine and that she was happy to serve.

"I just don't get it, Partner," the sword admitted. "So the queen apologized for being responsible for noble girl being sent to her death right? But then the noble girl said that it was fine, and that she was willing to die for the queen anyway, right?" The sword paused, and I got the impression that if it had hands it would be scratching its forehead. If it had a forehead too that is. "But weren't you the only one who ended up dead in the end?"

"Like I said, it's a side effect of being a woman. And maybe a bit of their being nobles as well," I admitted. Agnes was giving me a level stare as I casually blamed the emotional state of the two young ladies in front of us on their gender. "They don't even realize that they're being cruel by diminishing my actions by transferring them onto Louise. Women do that a lot too."

"Oh really?" Agnes muttered from the side of her mouth, trying to pretend like she was standing at attention and not trying to argue my casual observations.

"You see," I continued to Derflinger, "it's due to this emotional instability that sometimes women can often do callous and cruel things. Naturally, as a member of the more stable gender, it's my duty to act stoic and to ignore their occasional accidental heartlessness."

"Oh really?" Agnes muttered again, sounding affronted by my proclamation. Her eyes narrowed.

"So men don't on occasion do heartless things as well?" Derflinger asked, apparently once more not quite understanding humanity in general.

I shook my head. "No, we do heartless things too. It's just that we do them on purpose." I cocked my head to the side enough to be able to see the hilt from the corner of my eye. "For instance, a woman might do something silly like try to take advantage of a heartfelt reunion between comrades who had been separated through a tragic incident to stir up trouble against one of the comrades by pretending as though she had been having sex with said comrade, resulting in the member of the reunion being blasted with magic and hit in the head with a frying pan." Agnes winced and cleared her throat, glancing to the side guiltily. "A man on the other hand, would take advantage of the fact that someone else can't really respond do to the other person's situation, and then start making fun of them ruthlessly." Agnes' eyes narrowed even further as she saw where I had been going with this conversation, and Derflinger let out an 'ah' of comprehension. "Also, don't you think that cloak makes Agnes' butt look big?"

"Now see here!" Agnes yelped, affronted by my comment and turning to face me directly.

"Agnes?" Henrietta said, sounding surprised by Agnes' outburst. The two girls had just finished their crying spell in time to only hear the blond swordswoman's outburst and not my taunting that had led up to it. "Whatever is the matter?"

"Ah!" the musketeer blushed red high in her cheeks, and I smiled encouragingly at her. "I-i-it's nothing!" she tried to cover it up, embarrassed at having lost her composure in front of her queen.

I smiled at her triumphantly, turning my head so the other two girls couldn't see me as I did so. That had taken a lot of effort to set up.

"Your Majesty," Louise began, "I'm afraid that I must deliver dire news to you now!" My little Master began to explain the incident that had occurred in Albion, about how we had encountered another Servant, and the existence of other user's of the void element.

"You know," Derflinger admitted as the two of us stayed out of the conversation a bit longer. "All you human's look pretty much the same to me, but I will admit that the cloak does seem to settle on that part of her pretty well." Agnes flushed brighter, but kept her eyes locked foreword, determined not to react again.

"It's probably because she hasn't been getting enough exercise," I told the sword. "What, with me letting her win all our spars and all." Agnes twitched, looking like she was trying very hard not to turn and argue with me. "I know it can't be all the wine we drank," I mused, eyeing her thoughtfully. "Seeing as she was such a lightweight she couldn't really keep up with me any of the time."

"I drank you under the table every night and you know it!" she muttered through clenched teeth, her knuckles turning white as she clenched them tight in order to distract herself enough not to punch me.

"Well," I said patiently, as though talking to a small and dim child. "If that's the way you remember it, at least you had good dreams whenever you passed out so early in the evening."

"I will get you for this," she muttered through clenched teeth. "Somehow, someway, I will get you for this."

I grinned back, cheerfully. "Technically, this is me getting you back. So, how many of those romance novels did you end up borrowing from Siesta and Louise anyway?" Her lips turned white as she pressed them together tightly in order to not rise to my taunt again. "Did the three of you read them together, while braiding each other's hair? I bet you looked so cute giggling like a school girl, blushing at the naughty bits, with your hair in little pigtails with little pink bows…"

"Somehow, somewhere," she promised me, her face crimson. "Somehow, somewhere."

I smiled consolingly at her. "Sure you will," I consoled her, my voice doubtful. "Sure you will."

"This is troubling news indeed," the queen finally spoke as Louise finished her report on the enemies we encountered. "That there would be another user of the void, after so many years without." Her eyes were narrowed as she stared at the floor, deep in thought.

I spoke up for the first time since the meeting had begun. "Master, you already know my opinion on the matter." Louise glanced at me, her eyes narrowed, and then nodded her permission for me to explain to Henrietta. "When we initially began attempting to control Louise's power, before she acquired the Founder's Prayer Book, I mentioned that it was possible that there had been many users of the void over the years. It's most likely that the skills necessary to wield that element are simply so different from conventional spell craft that most are dismissed as failures and never cultivated the skill."

"Do you truly think such a thing likely?" Henrietta asked me, turning her thoughtful gaze on me fully. In response, I could only shrug.

"Louise herself was nearly pulled from the academy and focused instead on marital arts instead of magical ones," I informed her. When the queen glanced at her friend, Louise nodded, flushing slightly at the revelation. "It's not impossible to believe that in other instance those who might have used the void were simply concealed by their families in order to preserve face, or simply cast out as failures."

"Then how do you think that this enemy, the Master of Sheffield, might have learned enough of the arts to wield the void as Louise does?" Henrietta mused.

"It's entirely possible that they don't," I pointed out easily. Louise nodded and picked up, explaining the reasoning the two of us have come up with.

"It was not until I was granted the prayer book that I was able to truly progress in my art," my Master held the little book up for inspection. "But even before that I was still able to summon my Servant. There might be other artifacts or books that the enemy is using, but it might just be that the reason they attempted to claim the spell book in the first place was that they had no other method of learning more about their powers."

"On the other hand," I pointed out in return, "they could possibly have a source of spells even more complete then the one you have, Master. Or they might have one that hasn't yet revealed as many as yours. Or they could have just figured it out for themselves. We were well on our way to doing that before you came into possession of the book."

It was an argument that we had been bandying back and forth nearly the entire trip. Louise, probably influenced by the difficulty she had had in learning to use the void, was convinced that the enemy was probably in a disadvantageous position, and thus had been forced to seek out knowledge through confrontation. I on the other hand was attributing the assault on us to another line of reasoning: that the enemy already had the advantage and had moved so boldly because they didn't think they'd lose if it came to a confrontation.

Since we had no other information to work on, we had eventually reached the point where we had decided to agree to disagree and wait to see which one of us was right.

"Though this is troubling, there is nothing that can be done at this moment," Queen Henrietta declared, and then looked at me directly. "Therefore, let us turn to the other matter at hand." Brushing past Louise, Henrietta moved to stand before me, clad in her white dress and with her crown on her head, and then she bowed to me. "Servant Shirou Emiya," she said, her voice formal, "it is both thanks to you that my dear Louise is still here, and also that my army was able to retreat successfully. As both a friend, and as a queen, I must thank you from the bottom of my heart."

Well, this situation wasn't exactly covered by Louise during her lectures on court etiquette. Taking a page from my Japanese background instead, I bowed in response. It would have been disrespectful to her as a queen to not bow as fully as her, but disrespectful to her display of gratitude to bow lower, so I instead bowed to precisely the same angle as she did. "Your gratitude is gratefully received," I informed her, my voice formal as well. Keeping one eye on her, the moment she began to lift her head, I did so as well. From the corner of my eye I saw Louise biting her lip. This must have been an awkward scene for her to have witnessed, according to her upbringing at least; queens and kings just don't bow to anyone, not even each other. Still, it seemed my actions were at least suitably polite in my little Master's eyes, because she looked relieved when the scene was finished. Even while receiving her praise, I had maintained a suitably respectful demeanor while still being receptive.

Henrietta continued to watch me earnestly. "If not for your actions, then my army would have been annihilated, all due to a war caused by my own petty desires for vengeance," she continued, her voice tinged with self-loathing. "If my army had fallen, than there would have been no force left to protect my country, and no doubt we would have been conquered soon after. It is no exaggeration to say that it is thanks to you that my kingdom remains." It looks like she's really planning on dragging this 'thank you' on. No doubt a symptom of spending too much time around other nobles: growing pomposity.

"Though that was the consequence of my action, please bear in mind that my main purpose of doing so was the protection of my Master," I pointed out to her bluntly. Rather than being upset by my confession, Henrietta instead smiled.

"Indeed, and for that, I thank you as well," she agreed. It looked like I wasn't getting away from this without being thoroughly acknowledged. "Even more so then for my army, for saving Louise you deserve to be rewarded." Turning away, she crossed the room to rummage around on her desk, which was piled high with stacks of rolled up parchment towers of stacked paper, some nearly a foot high. She began rummaging through the mess of her work station. I had the impression she had intended to make the trip a quick one in order to keep the dramatic tension high, however it looked like she had somehow misplaced her intended target somewhere in the jungle of the paperwork.

Awkwardly rummaging through the mess on her desk, she continued. "It was not till I myself was in Albion, for the peace talks," she continued, pulling open all of the drawers of her desk, and flipping the objects she found in there so she could search under them for whatever her target was, "that I was informed of just what had been asked of both yourself and Louise. It seemed that they did not consider their rampant abuse of their authority over her to be noteworthy enough to report to their queen," she noted with a scowl. Whether it was at the self serving actions of her generals, or over the fact that she still hadn't found whatever it was she was looking for I couldn't tell. "Indeed," the queen continued, pursing her lips and putting her hands on her hips as she gave the paperwork on the table one final glare, "it relieved me immensely when they described the enthusiasm you had for insuring they not overstep their boundaries."

"A task I look back upon with great fondness," I noted, smiling in nostalgia. "Though there was one particular young soldier who I felt had a lot of promise; a Mathew Penterdon if I remember his name correctly." Louise, who had been hovering in the background as the scene unfolded in front of her perked up at the name. She had gotten along well with the earnest young liaison we had been assigned towards the end of the campaign. "If he survived the retreat, he might be someone to keep an eye on."

"Penterdon, you say?" Henrietta asked, glancing at Agnes. The swordswoman had recovered enough of her composure from my earlier taunting to nod her head, committing the name to memory. The aside finished, Henrietta gave one last glare at the towering pile of paperwork, and then apparently decided to throw dignity aside in the name of convenience. Or maybe she just was sick of the bane of all bureaucracy, because with one swift movement she used her royal scepter to knock all the bundles and sheets off her table. With the sound of a paper avalanche, the majority of the documents fell behind her desk where they were hidden from sight. Surreptitiously kicking the majority of the mess under her desk, her eyes lit up when she finally found what she had been looking for.

Dismissing the messy desk behind her, Henrietta again approached me. Clearing her throat she spoke in an appropriately dramatic tone. "Servant Shirou Emiya, in recognition of the services you have provided this country, I award you with this." Finishing her declaration she presented me with a very official looking document, with gold gilding on the edges and what I had come to recognize as the official symbol of the Tristain royal family.

Bowing my head slightly I accepted the document with as much decorum as I could. "Could you excuse me for but a moment, your majesty?" I asked her as politely as I could. When she nodded briefly to me, I turned directly to Louise. "Master, would you mind interpreting?" I still hadn't gotten around to learning the local written language.

Taking the parchment from me, Louise's eyes quickly darted over the words written there, before both her eyebrows shot up in surprise. "It says that you are to be consecrated as a noble, granted the title of Chevalier, and given command of a newly reformed order of knights, the Knights of the Undine," she summarized as continued reading quickly.

"Command of an order?" I asked, a little surprised by that. I could see the consecration and the title. Henrietta tended to use that when she was scouting for trustworthy help, or so I heard anyway. Agnes herself was awarded the same distinctions. Come to think of it, she had been awarded a captaincy as well. "What would that entail?"

Henrietta opened her mouth to answer before Louise unconsciously cut her off, my pink haired Master's attention totally absorbed on the paper in her hands. "You'd be responsible for organizing, training, and in the event of deployment, leading them in combat. You'd be under the direct command of Queen Henrietta herself during times of peace, but if another war were to break out, you'd be placed under the leadership of the commander in chief of whatever forces were being deployed." Louise raised her head and gave me a frank look. "Well, what do you think, Shirou?" she asked me curiously. Henrietta blinked at having apparently been cut out of the conversation entirely.

I grimaced. "I have no particular attachment to neither the title, the rank, nor the post. I still think that if I wait long enough the damn rumors will die down a bit as everyone convinces themselves they were exaggerated. And even if they don't, people won't associate the swordsman who stopped seventy thousand with the man servant of a particularly rich noble girl. It should still be possible for me to slip under the notice of most people and stay anonymous. As for the posting, I'm leery about the idea of having obligations to other authorities than just my Master." It might have sounded as though I was proclaiming personal loyalty to Louise, but the pink haired girl didn't even blink. She was aware of the fact that I was referring to my duties as a Servant in that instance. She was also aware that even if we didn't have those two monikers hanging over us, I'd still have her back anyway. "All said and done, I'm leaning towards polite refusal."

Louise bit her lip at the thought of me turning down a direct reward from the queen herself, apparently having temporarily forgotten that Henrietta could probably hear everything that we were saying, seeing as she was standing right next to us and looking a little bemused by the strategy session unfolding directly in front of her eyes. "I'm a little uncertain of it myself," she admitted. "I could think of a few good reasons for you to accept: the annual stipend you'd receive as a landless noble, and the ability to conceal your abilities as simple magic like the other nobles." I hadn't even thought of that option. I could probably carry around a fake little stick and pretend that I was a lower class earth magi and nobody would ever look at me twice. "But you're also right about the disadvantages too. You might end up just getting too much attention. Particularly from my mother and sister…"

Louise and I both shuddered at the thought.

"Polite refusal then," I suggested again. Louise nodded in agreement.

"Polite refusal," she confirmed. She handed me back the document, and I turned back to Henrietta. "My sincerest apologies, your majesty," I told her politely. "But it seems that for reasons I shall not elaborate, I must at this time decline your generous reward."

For some reason, Henrietta didn't look at all surprised at the statement. Still standing at attention at the door of the room, Agnes looked like she was trying very hard not to be amused at the scene she had just witnessed. "I'm very sorry to hear such a thing," she instead said. "Though I cannot imagine the reasoning behind it," and it looked like her courtly upbringing really paid off in spades here because she didn't even sound remotely sarcastic while saying that, "is there perhaps no way I can change your mind, oh King of Swords?"

I grimaced. "By the vexing Kaleidoscope of Zelretch, if I ever find the person responsible for that ridiculous nick name I'm going to run them through," I swore under my breath.

Apparently not softly enough. "Like that would convince them of being wrong," Agnes muttered, before catching herself and realizing she had gotten sucked in to the conversation against her will yet again.

Strangely enough, Henrietta only looked sympathetic to my plight. "I can commiserate with you about such things, Mister Emiya," she assured me, assuming her own pained expression. "In order to help alleviate the burden the war has placed on the national treasury, I had all of the personal possessions of the royal family auctioned and the proceeds turned over to the treasury. Though I had intended for this act to go undiscovered, my advisor caught wind of it and had it leaked to the populace. Now I am being called 'The Queen of Honorable Poverty'." Her pained expression suddenly made sense.

"It's not that bad a ridiculous title, your majesty," I assured her. "At least it has your rank right, and is based around something you actually did. Mine seems to be sown together with lies and delusions." Exchanging sympathetic glances we both sighed in unison.

"Still, Shirou," Henrietta continued, sounding resolved to continue the conversation. "Is there no way I can convince you to accept the reward?" She was pushing this too hard for it to be just her earnest attempt at seeing me get recognition. There was hopefulness to her voice, as well as a small undercurrent of worry. What could she be…?

"Ah," I muttered suddenly, my eyes narrowed. Hmmm. Well, that could be the case…

"What is it, Shirou?" Louise asked, looking at me with concern from my elbow. She might have grown, but she was still definitely a very petite girl. Well, I suppose I should start referring to her as a young woman now, all things considered. I frowned slightly, my eyes still narrowed as I shook my head in response to my Master's concern while keeping my eyes on the queen in front of me. Henrietta kept herself firm in the face of my regard, waiting patiently.

Finally, I sighed. "Has it really gotten to that point?" It was a vague statement that I muttered to myself, but once more the rest of the room caught it.

"It is not yet so bad," Henrietta confirmed, apparently having trusted me to arrive at the conclusion once I started puzzling. "But isn't it better to take a preventative action, rather than simply reacting?"

"Excuse me, your majesty," Louise piped in, looking as though she had reached the end of her patience when it came to being kept in the dark, but maintaining her civility while in the presence of her soverign. "What is it that you two are talking about? If there is anything you need, you know you need only ask," the pinkette assured the queen fervently.

"If you don't mind, Ann?" I asked the queen, using her nickname from the time we had been hiding out in the city. Though that got me glares from both Louise and Agnes, Henrietta simply smiled, reaffirming the trust that seemed to have formed between us. Turning to Louise, I continued. "Since you're so determined to keep a corrupting influence like me around," I told her, giving her a wry look, "I might as well do my best to live up to that reputation. Even if that involves me explaining," and here I made a sick face, "politics."

Louise kept her eyes narrowed, and I had suspicions that she might be plotting something at me for speaking to the queen out of line, but she also settled back into a position that I hadn't seen her take in a very long while. Once more, just like in the earliest days of our partnership, she was the eager student and I was the wise teacher imparting wisdom. I decided the 'Tohsaka Rin Lecture Position Number One' would be sufficient.

"Henrietta is a young queen," I began, focusing my attention on Louise mostly, but keeping an eye on the queen as well as I talked. Her reactions to my reasoning might help me understand the situation better. "A lot of people were very nervous when she first assumed the responsibility about how well she'd be able to handle it. Most people just assumed a 'wait and see' attitude. She got lucky early on, when we repelled the invasion at the Fields of Tarbes, and she got labeled with the 'holy woman' reputation, which won over a good part of the populace, probably mostly amongst the commoners and the soldiers. When the war proper was going on, it was on her orders that the conquered towns and cities were to be properly cared for, even going so far as to share the food supplies of the army itself when we arrived at Saxe-Gotha and discovered it looted already. Now with the selling of her personal possessions, she had pretty much affirmed her position as a compassionate and wise ruler who cares for her people." I glanced around the room. Sure enough, it was completely devoid of any other furnishings or decorations besides the desk that was until recently covered with massive amounts of paperwork.

"So what does that have to do with your reward?" Louise asked, following my explanation so far. She had seemed irritated at my casual description of Henrietta's circumstances, but that was more out of distaste for the population in general that didn't share her own zealous devotion to the queen.

"Because compassion isn't enough for some people," I told her bluntly. "You heard most of the rumors yourself, back when we were working at the inn; all the concern about her ability to lead, about the outcome of the war, things like that. Most of those have been answered now. The campaign is over, the country won, the Albion forces surrendered directly to her due to her reputation as a benevolent leader. That would have won over most of the commoners. Her being willing to sacrifice her personal possessions in order to alleviate taxes would have set that in stone. Even a good number of the younger nobles have probably become supporters because of the last bit. All those second and third sons who won't be able to inherit anything except for a noble status and a small allowance will be able to look around at their meager possessions, reflect that their queen was probably living in the same conditions, and feel a kinship with her. The problem comes from the other nobles, the ones who are so rich they have nothing better to do with their time then complain and play petty little games with the lives of others. People like the late the former High Court Justice Richmon."

Agnes scowled in her corner at the name, and Louise nodded slowly, understanding just what I meant when I was talking about playing games with the lives of others.

"For people like that, in order to keep them in line you need to have an iron fist, or some kind of superior military capability. Unfortunately, having a reputation for being compassionate generally comes with the underlying assumption that their kindness is some kind of weakness. With the army so severely depleted from the previous conflict, she needs something else to keep the less loyal subjects in line." I left just what that something else was hanging in the air, and Louise nodded, her face looking thoughtful.

"Something like the King of Swords?" she supplied, humming to herself as she tried to wrap the new concepts together in her mind. Louise is smart. She might be unfamiliar with things like a country's dirty politics, but I had no doubt that she'd get the picture as quickly as she had.

"Precisely," I nodded, folding my arms as I continued. "Having me as an ordained noble and Chevalier would be showing the other countries who might be feeling opportunistic that Tristain still has a trump card ready if they were to try and take advantage of the country's weakness. Having me associated with an order would increase the effect. If word got out that members of this 'Knights of the Undine' were at a particular location, all parties would be hesitant to act for fear of either my personal presence, or whatever strong soldiers I had been training. With the knights under her direct command at all times except for war, the nobles within the country who might get a little uppity would know that if they get too far out of line she can call on me to take care of them." I glanced at Henrietta, and then took a further gamble. "It would also let her keep your presence concealed," I told Louise directly.

"Concealed?" she blinked, not understanding how she came into this situation exactly.

"Your abilities and magic are still relatively unknown," I pointed out. "If she needed your particular skills anywhere, then she could simply send me, and use my status as your Servant to justify your presence there. You'd be the unremarkable hanger on, just part of my entourage most likely. Then, while all the eyes were on me, you'd be able to do whatever is required without being noticed." I turned back to Henrietta, addressing her directly for the first time since I began my lecture. "Is that more or less what you were intending, your majesty?"

"Unfortunately, yes it is," the queen sighed, looking distressed. Meeting my eyes firmly, she earnestly told me, "It is not my intention to treat you so callously, Mister Emiya," she emphatically declared. "In truth, I dislike the thought of my gratitude being tainted by such maneuvering. However, my advisor has frequently taught me that in politics, one must use any method available."

"Whoever your advisor is, he's right," I told her, my face wrinkled in displeasure at being swept into this country's internal power struggles. "Politics is every bit as dangerous as sword play. More so sometimes. You can see a sword coming at you, but you can't always see the poison in the food or the knife at the back."

"So how does this change things?" Louise asked impatiently. She had both of her arms folded, just like mine, and it was clear that she was half lost in thought as she tried to use the new information to plot a course of action. "Would it be better to accept the ordainment?"

"I'm still a little leery," I admitted. "Becoming a noble and a Chevalier; that requires some kind of oath of fealty, doesn't it?" At Henrietta's nod, I continued. "I'm not sure if I can do that," I admitted reluctantly. "I take my oaths seriously, and if it came down to a choice between betraying my Master and betraying an oath to you, I would break the oath."

Now that she had something to work with, it looked as though Henrietta was more than willing to negotiate. "Perhaps if the oath you took was not the traditional one; instead of to myself and my country, if you were to take it to your own country instead or ideal instead? It is not to uncommon an event if the one being distinguished is not originally of the land where they're being knighted."

That made sense. Last year, after the Fouquet incident, both Louise and Kirche received Chevalier titles, and Kirche didn't make too big a secret over the distain she held for most Tristainian; Kirche considered them to be repressed and boring people when compared to her Germainian countrymen.

"That's a possibility, but what about the Undine Knights?" Louise asked, her brow furrowed as she started her first tentative step into political intrigue. "If Shirou were to be a knight errant, then could he lead a politically appointed military unit?"

"Perhaps not as a commander, but I could be accepted a bit lower into the rank structure, or perhaps just hold a title an advisor or instructor," I ventured. "What your majesty is searching for is to have me directly associated with both herself and the military unit so that I can be used indirectly, isn't that right?" At the queen's nod, I continued. "Well, there happens to be someone that I'm associated with that might be able to fill that role," I ventured hesitantly; very hesitantly.

"Who might that be?" Henrietta asked seriously. Despite that this was meant to be a happy occasion, it had quickly become a strategy session, and one that would directly affect her ability to rule her country. Her eyes reminded me of another time, when she had been dressed as a provocative town girl, right before she went alone into a theater to confront a traitor to the country whom had been responsible for her own abduction through nefarious and heartless means. They reminded me of the echo of musket shots that had followed immediately afterwards as well.

They reminded me of daggers once more; definitely steel in this one.

Which was why I wasn't certain about whom I was about to recommend. I mean, yeah, this could work, this could work really well actually. But only if the one I had in mind had really come as far as I suspected he had. "Guiche da Gramont," I finally decided to throw the ex-fop under the wheels of our machinations. Louise gawked at me. I don't blame her, Guiche tended to leave a pretty bad impression originally, and even if he has come a long way, he's still not precisely at the level where he would be ready to lead an order of knights. "He's the fourth son of a General Gramont, a line class mage, and has recently distinguished himself as a commander during the invasion of Saxe-Gotha," I continued, listing his qualifications. "More than that, the whole school, and many of his units from during the war knows that I was personally teaching him swordsmanship. Also, he's good looking," I listed bluntly. "He'd make a popular looking figure head, and his assignment would probably help secure the Gramont family to your cause. No one would question my presence beside him, as most people already know we're friendly as it is."

"Unbelievable," Louise whimpered, looking pale at the thought. Not that Guiche was about to get an appointment he really wasn't ready for, but that it actually made sense for him to receive it. "That Guiche? Getting a captaincy? How in the Root does it happen?"

"Thus is politics," I assured her, reassuringly patting her shoulder as she continued to try and wrap her mind around the impossible concept.

"It seems like this Guiche would be most useful for this purpose," Henrietta concluded, though she still looked troubled. "I had hoping for a more direct connection between yourself and I, though," she admitted. The whole purpose of my ordainment was to have me linked in the eyes of the populace directly to the queen as a kind of ominous shadow. This way still had us linked, but the link was once removed and nowhere near as strong as she was originally hoping for.

Surprisingly, for the first time of the conversation, Agnes spoke up directly. "Your other reputation," was all she said. I glanced at her, and then my eyes narrowed in thought again.

"Yes," I admitted, "yes that would work."

"Other reputation?" Louise and Henrietta both asked at the same time, not understanding what the two of us were talking about.

"Due to a certain little pink haired spiteful Master, who shall go unidentified," I began dryly, causing Louise to give me a level 'you're not fooling anyone' look in return, "there's an unsubstantiated and completely uncalled for rumor that I'm an insatiable playboy that's too much for any one woman to handle by themselves."

Louise flushed at the rumor, and then flushed deeper when she realized where she was going with it. "You can't mean…!" she began, and then was unable to continue in embarrassment. She shot a quick look at Henrietta, ready to apologize profusely for just what us two swordspersons were trying to suggest, and then froze in shock when she saw Henrietta with a deep look of concentration on her face as she actually considered it.

"It wouldn't be that hard a rumor to start," the queen mused, her eyes like daggers. This was the woman who shamelessly used a topless make out session to distract a set of guards searching for her. She had no problem at all using her body as a weapon when the opportunity called for it. "A small act of public impropriety, the kind of thing that could be easily dismissed by some, and blown out of proportion by others…"

"More than that, it would fit in with some of the other rumors about you, your majesty," I pointed out. "If played out right, it might very well end up more romantic than tawdry: the young queen, whom started a war to avenge her beloved, falling in love with the one responsible for attaining her vengeance. It could very well end up a play."

"I can't believe that you two are considering this!" Louise finally gasped out, still open jawed.

"You see, Master," I told her. "This is what happens when you start rumors about someone being some kind of sex god: people try to pray to them." The look on her face almost made the Root be damned rumors worth it.

"Very well then," Henrietta concluded, thus drawing our first official conspiracy planning session to a close. I would have preferred if Louise cut her teeth at back room deals using school politics instead of national policy, but she had to start somewhere I suppose. "Then will you accept the reward, thus altered, Sir Emiya?"

"Yes, your majesty," I answered firmly. With a relieved smile, Henrietta rang a small hand bell she somehow recovered from a corner of her desk where it had been concealed by a pile of rolled up scrolls. Ringing it once, we were quickly joined by a maid carrying a small bundle. Taking it from the serving girl, Henrietta unfolded it, revealing a cloak of station, the discerning trait that all nobles wore. Accepting it, I flared it once, and then settled it on my shoulders.

Now where was this particular article when it was actually cold enough to warrant me wearing it? I wondered. Still, as I tried to settle it comfortably I grimaced. It settled over Derflinger's sheath, making reaching the hilt awkward. Moving my arms in large circles, I tried to get an idea of how it would interfere if I was forced to wear it in battle.

As Henrietta was setting about making some changes in my appointment document, I spoke up a request. "Do you mind if I get a belt of some kind as well?" Henrietta gave me a brief glance, and then nodded at the serving girl who hadn't been dismissed yet, and was hovering over my shoulder offering me small unspoken adjustments on how to wear the cloak more properly. With a curtsey the maid quickly exited the room, apparently to locate me an appropriate belt.

"I can't believe all this is happening," Louise finally managed to get out. The room was probably spinning for her. Guiche, getting an order of knights? Her Servant becoming the unofficial threat that her queen held over those who would be disloyal? A rumor about her majesty being indiscreet that Henrietta had agreed to start herself? It looked like just as with combat, Louise was going to be starting at the deep end and learning in tried and true sink or swim manner. I resolved to use our tea drinking custom at the end of each night to help her get a handle on it later. "I thought you hated politics," she finally settled on accusing me. "What happened to preferring blunt?"

"I do hate politics, and I prefer bluntness," I told her directly. "But I've been screwed over enough by back door deals like this that I eventually had no choice but to pick up the basics, if only so that I could keep from being manipulated too much by them." My face serious, I continued, giving her a stern glare that caused her to flinch. "And the sad part is that you too are probably going to have to get used to things like this. Whether you like it or not, eventually people are going to find out about you. Someday you're going to have to keep an eye out for manipulative people trying to use you from the shadows."

She gulped. "This was not what I was expecting at all," she sighed, looking once more very small despite her recent growth spurts.

I put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Master," I assured her seriously. "As always, I shall be your sword, defending you from those who would deal you harm. This is nothing more than one more avenue of attack. Those who would seek to use you in this manner I shall deal with as I always have."

"No killing faceless manipulators until we're certain that her majesty won't need them anymore," she told me absently, before blinking and realizing the absurdity of what she had just said. "I can't believe you've corrupted me this much," she mumbled sinking her head in her hands. "You were right. You're a terrible influence on me."

I grinned, my familiar half smirk. "Well, on the plus side, now that I'm a noble I can finally stop treating everyone around me without kid's gloves." Louise blinked, not understanding what I was saying, but definitely not liking the implications. "Before hand there was always the worry that if I killed whatever idiot was threatening you that I would have to deal with the consequences of a commoner raising a blade against a noble. Now I can just issue a challenge and stick a sword in them from the front!" Louise's eyes widened and she let loose a horrified 'eep' as she realized I had just attained a viable justification for slaughter with impunity. "Now," I murmured, accepting the belt that the maid had just returned with, "I wonder where I can find that idiot Wimpfenn."

Though Louise didn't seem to take that very well, from the dagger in her eyes as she approached with the newly rewritten appointment letter, Henrietta seemed to find this an agreeable course of action.

*Scene Break*

"Are you certain about wearing your cloak like that?" Louise asked me as Agnes escorted the two of us away from Henrietta's work room after my ordainment ceremony. "Many might consider it offensive or disrespectful."

"And the meaningless opinion of the faceless rabble will no doubt haunt my sleep endlessly," I muttered. "The conventional means of wearing it would interfere with my draw, and I'd run the risk of my arm becoming entangled if I was using some of my more exotic tools," I explained to the girl as we walked. "I only need the cloak on me as a symbol, so that people will know that I'm actually a chevalier now. I can get that utility from it like this just as well."

'Like this' referred to the fashion I had decided on securing the new garment to my person. Rather than wear it over my shoulders as was traditional, I had instead belted it around its middle, securing it to my person that way, and then shrugging it off my shoulders so the top hung down as the cloth was folded nearly double. The end result was a pseudo skirt, too long to be considered a kilt by any means. It concealed my legs nearly completely, the shapeless mass undulating as my legs brushed against it from the inside as I walked.

"I've always found the cape to be useful for hiding my arm movements," Agnes pointed out from where she led us, looking at my fashion statement with a seasoned eye.

"That's useful for you," I admit. "If they can't see your arms then they can't see you reaching for a pistol. Plus there are some schools of the sword that teach people to read the next movement from the shoulders or torso. That's less effective against me, so I'm not too worried about it. But there are other schools that tell people to judge the next move by the leg movements, and the position of the feet. This will help counter that at least."

As Agnes and I debated the functionality imparted to me by my new cloak, Louise on the other hand was looking at me with a troubled eye. At first I thought she was still concerned over my plans to track down the self serving ass who had ordered her to die. When she finally spoke, it turned out there was something else on her mind.

"Shirou," she began in a quiet voice, reminiscent of our earlier time together. "Did you choose that look on purpose? It seems so familiar…" she trailed off, sounding uncomfortable for some reason.

"What do you mean?" I asked her, curiously, before turning my head to glance at one of the windows we were passing by. Henrietta hadn't been exaggerating when she said she had auctioned everything off in order to support the coffers. The entire castle, aside from a few specific and diplomatically important rooms, was devoid of all furnishings. No tables with flower vases on them, no tapestries or wall hangings, not even carpeting remained. With the lack of mirrors available, I instead used the reflection off the pane of glass to see what had unnerved my Master.

And then I froze mid-step, sucking in a strangled gulp of air so audibly that it caused the two girls to stare at me with worry. I ignored them.

Because staring back at me from the window, was Archer, the Counter Guardian EMIYA, the broken and disillusioned shell that might still wait for me in the future.

For a second I was unable to move, unable to think, unable to breathe, and I could only stare in mind numbed shock. Finally, the little differences started to stand out, to assure me that it wasn't Archer looking back at me and just my reflection. My hair was still redder then his had turned out to be, my frame a bit more muscled then his, my expression a bit less dour. I was wearing black clothes beneath sleeves and a concealing leg clothe, but my clothes were blue instead of red, and nowhere near as finally adorned or embroidered as his had been. He would have been holding the two swords, Kanshou and Bakuya, the two phantoms he had chosen to devote himself to in mastery, whereas I had the hilt of Derflinger poking over my shoulder, symbolizing my dedication to the variety of blades that I wielded.

Still, I felt a chill settle through me, and couldn't help but wonder at the portent. Was this how he had started as well? It was impossible to know, or even recreate, the exact events that had led that broken soul to become what it had, and to have any knowledge of how he had came to wear that outfit. Yet, here I was, imitating it without ever knowing, without ever even suspecting.

I had known, that the day I found the Hill of Swords, that I might be faced with a choice. That was what had happened to EMIYA, what had caused him to become what he had. That in order to truly save the ones he was fighting for, he had sold his soul for power, and committed himself to an eternity of servitude in the darkest and most wretched corners of the world, acting as the razor which incised the cancers that threatened the planet itself. It was the one thing that I had taken from that potential future, the one thing I had decided above all else that I would not imitate. If EMIYA hadn't been strong enough, had been forced to seek aid elsewhere, then I would be. I would be strong enough to save the ones I fought for on my own. Even if it cost me my life, I would at least see that that price alone would be sufficient.

I had thought I had accomplished that; that I had become strong enough not to be faced by the temptation that EMIYA had, when I had fallen on the Hills of Saxe-Gotha.

Was I wrong? Was the Root just playing with me? Was it just the beginning? Was that fate still waiting for me?

"Shirou," a voice came from my side, half shouted, that dragged me back to reality. It was Louise, who was looking at me with a face that was nearly white with worry. "Shirou," she repeated, staring at me. "Shirou, you're shaking."

I swallowed, trying to work moisture into my dry throat. She was right. My hand was shaking, clenched into a fist at my side.

"It's nothing," I croaked out. Without another word, I wheeled away and began marching resolutely down the hallway. "It's nothing," I whispered to myself, ignoring the questions. "Nothing at all."

*Scene Break*

Our return back to the academy the next day was once more facilitated by wind dragons, the same one that had apparently won the right to carry me from last time. On the fast beast, a journey of what should have been half a day was just a matter of a few hours.

It seemed like the queen had sent ahead news of our return soon after our meeting while Louise made herself at home in one of the still furnished guest rooms, and I wrestled with my unnerving new appearance. Upon our arrival back at the castle, we were greeted by nearly two dozen students, most of them males, except for a few particular cases.

"Sir Emiya!" one in particular greeting student caught my eye. Guiche, the handsome blond boy that would no doubt soon be shocked to discover his recent promotion, stared with wide eyes, a look of something that could either be joy or shock on his face. "So it is true! You are alive!" As though a switch had been flipped once he confirmed my presence, he recovered, and set his face into a dramatic smirk, posing with his rose wand as he did so. "Of course you would be alive," he continued. "There was no doubt that the one who has trained me would find something as simple as an army to be no trouble to them." Beside him, one of the notable females in the group, Montmorency, snorted in sarcastic amusement at his declaration. Several of the other females that I didn't recognize on the other hand seemed to take his word more at face value, and sighed happily, staring at the blond boy with wide eyed admiration.

Looks like Guiche's time in the service might have gotten him a few admirers. Strangely, despite the presence of the hanger ons, the usually jealous Montmorency didn't seem too upset.

Whatever the change to the group dynamics while I was gone, there was something that I needed to say to the boy immediately.

"Guiche de Gramont," I said, my voice serious. The one time fop blinked at my tone, and looked nervous, his eyes glancing to the side as he desperately tried to remember if he had done anything to piss me off before I had disappeared. Instead, I bowed low. "Thank you, Guiche, for taking care of my Master and friends at Saxe-Gotha." I hadn't forgotten who it was I had entrusted Louise too before heading to my fate, nor how bitterly he had protested my leaving, or how much effort it had taken to get him to not follow me as well. When I had first laid eyes on the boy, back when he was nothing but a flirting blow hard, I had no idea that there might ever come a day when he could have become someone whom I actually thought of as reliable. Louise gave Guiche a look, and then snorted apparently not at all happy with the blond boy's contribution, and stormed a bit away to talk to Dragon Knight who had brought us here in order to pass on a message to the queen. It looked like she was going to let me have a few moments to properly greet all the people who had come out to meet us on our return.

Remembering just what I was talking about, instead of striking a new pose, Guiche instead only looked somber. "No, there is no need to thank me, Sir Emiya," he insisted, sounding regretful. "I only wish I could have helped in some other way, to have made myself more useful during those troubled times." It looked like the whole war in general might have taught the boy some modesty as well.

His apparent fan girls seemed to eat it up, and they sighed dreamily while staring at him with heart filled eyes.

"Kkkkkkkkkkkiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-"

"Nonetheless," Guiche continued, apparently recovering enough of his flamboyancy after the serious moment to manage a pose again. "It was your actions which allowed us to pull back unmolested! Though many doubted your contribution," and here he gave a venomous look at the rest of the boys, "when the message from the queen came yesterday, all those who had been participating in the campaign were eager to have the opportunity to thank you for your contribution."

So that was who all these people were. I didn't recognize half of them, but many of them had grateful looks on their faces. One in particular, a rather large young man and unusually muscled for a noble, spoke up. "Is it true? That you met an army of seventy thousand with nothing but a sword in hand?" he seemed as though he found the idea utterly preposterous, but just too amazing not to want to believe in it anyway. I imagine that in a world without television, and probably very little in the way of written works for entertainment, romance novels aside, that dramatic stories like this one tended to get a lot of attention.

"That's what the numbers have been confirmed at," I admit. "The original fifty thousand Albion forces and the converted twenty thousand from the allied forces."

"So where on earth have you been, anyway?" Montmorency spoke up sarcastically, apparently having heard way too much about the accomplishment from Guiche in the past, probably not believing it initially, and most likely having trouble overcoming her habitual disbelief now that it was confirmed. When she realized that she had called attention to herself, and from me, whom she was terrified of, she 'eeped' and ducked a bit behind Guiche.

"-yyyyyyyyyyuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-"

"Healing," I told her bluntly, causing many in the crowd to blink in surprise. "You don't think I just walked through the army, and they all just stood by and let me cut them up? It was nearly a month before I had recovered enough to even get out of bed, and another month after that before I was capable of holding a sword properly again." I had been hoping that the admission would disillusion some of the budding hero worship I was seeing in the eyes of the students. Instead, the fact that I apparently received massive wounds in their defense only cemented it. I frowned. "And what is that noise?"

"What noise?" Louise asked, apparently having finished helping the knight unload.

I cocked my head, trying to identify the sound. "It's some kind of long drawn out sound, and it appears to be getting closer," I pointed it out. It sounded vaguely familiar…

"-uuuuiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"

*Scene Break*

"There's that dream again," I muttered, coming out of the darkness of unconsciousness. "It had big sis Fuji and Ilya in hakama and bloomers. This time they were talking about bad endings, and going back a few days…."

Coming back to myself, I realized that I had no recollection of where I was and how I got there. Instinctively I held up my hands, prepared to trace a blade to defend myself, when I recognized who was sitting next to me reading.

"Tabitha?" I asked, confused. What was the little bluette doing here? And where was here? Glancing around, trying desperately to remember where I was and how I got there, I saw that I was in a room, not unlike the one that Louise and I usually shared, but definitely decorated in a strange way. Piled from the floor nearly to the ceiling in places were books, dozens of them, maybe hundreds even. He furniture here was still expensive looking, but much simpler than the ones in my Master's room. As I glanced around in confusion, I finally saw something to explain what had happened.

"Oh," I said, feeling stupid, as I looked at the window. Hanging off of it from the outside was Sylphid, her paws peeking up from the bottom where she was grasping the frame of the window. Her head was pushed in as far as her long neck would allow her too, and she had her eyes closed and an expression of utter happiness on her face as her mouth moved up and down silently. I cocked my head to the side and still feeling a little stupid for not having seen this coming continued. "Yes, that would explain it."

It appeared that the noise I had heard was Sylphid, calling out in joy as she dive bomb hugged me at ramming speeds. Glancing down, I took stock of my body, trying to see if I had any wounds. I was still fully dressed, except for my cloak which had been put to the side on a table next to the chair that Tabitha was sitting on. Glancing up at the quiet little mage I asked, "Healer?" There must have been a reasonably skilled water mage nearby to have fixed me up so quickly.

"Montmorency," the quiet girl affirmed. That surprised me a bit. I had the impression that she would have been happy to leave me wounded. "Welcome back," she continued softly, not looking up from the book in her hands.

"It's good to be back," I admit. "Present circumstances notwithstanding." I glanced over at Sylphid, watching her mouth move up and down constantly despite the lack of noise. "Silence spell?"

Lifting her crooked staff, Tabitha gestured once at the dragon.

"-uuiii! Big brother is back! Kyuui kyuui kyuui!" the happy sounding dragon babbled. "At first Irukukuu was sad that big brother was kyuui! Irukukuu would kyuui at his statue! But now big brother kyuui! Now big brother can kyuui Irukukuu! And then he can kyuui kyuui! And after the scratching, he can kyuui while feeding me! And then he can kyuui kyuui kyuui!" Apparently the young beast had gotten so excited she was periodically replacing various words with the noise 'kyuui'. It looked like she was describing a series of events she had planned for me. It seemed like my itinerary in the future will involve a lot of hugging, eye scratching, and feeding. "And then he and big sister can kyuui!" Irukukuu continued innocently. "And after big sister kyuui and kyuui again she can show him her pretty white…"

I pretended to ignore the last statement when Tabitha quickly raised her staff once more, resetting the silence spell on the dragon who didn't even notice as she outlined yet another series of events she was planning on. Tabitha and I sat in a brief period of silence. If it were anyone else, I think there would have been a series of pointed questions about just why Irukukuu was speaking so easily in my presence, or for how long I had known that the dragon was special. Tabitha on the other hand was a smart girl. She had no doubt put together at some point, probably from Irukukuu's own slip ups, that I had known for a while. She had also noticed the fact that I hadn't changed my actions regarding the dragon, nor made any attempt to reveal my knowledge to any of the others.

"For Irukukuu," the girl said instead, "thank you." She turned a page of her book, apparently letting her words stand alone.

"You're welcome," I told her politely. It was always interesting talking with the taciturn girl. At first I had wondered just how it was that Kirche could apparently interpret entire sentences and paragraphs out of the girl's quiet one word responses. However as time went on, especially after the time we had spent hunting treasure, I had found myself understanding the quiet girl's brief utterances more and more. I don't think the others had yet managed to come as far as I have, and I have no idea how Kirche had managed to progress so far either, but as time went on and my understanding of the girl had deepened, I had just come to be able to comprehend her better. I think that in my case it had to do with a sense of camaraderie that had developed due to the both of us being the main combat personal on the little team while we were adventuring.

Still, my strange relationship with the girl could wait. Something else had come to my mind, something that the still happily babbling dragon had let slip.

"What was all that about a statue?" I asked, confused at both the reference to the statue, and just what it was that Irukukuu had done to it besides 'kyuui'ing.

In response to my question Tabitha hunched over lower, bringing her book up to cover her face. Suddenly, I had a bad feeling about this.

*Scene Break*

"Guiche," I ground out between clenched teeth. "What in the name of the Root is this supposed to be?"

"Ah," Guiche began, looking just as nervous as he had earlier when I used his full name. "Well, you see," he hedged. "When we first got back and when you didn't immediately turn up, I rather presumptuously assumed that you had died."

"A perfectly logical conclusion," I agreed, my voice tight. Guiche seemed to take some encouragement from that and continued.

"Well, in my grief I decided that I would attempt to create something to remember you by, and all the influence you held on me," he went on, glancing up to the thing I was staring at. "I decided that I would make a statue. I actually decided that I was going to do the whole thing by hand through clay, and then afterwards use my magic to turn it to brass." He followed my gaze, seeing the fruits of his labor.

Sure enough, I was standing in front of a life sized statue of myself. Despite the fact that I had no idea how I was supposed to feel after having been memorialized in metal, I was willing to go as far as admitting that Guiche apparently had some talent as a sculptor. He had managed to capture my features rather well, my face turned down as though in sorrow, Kanshou and Bakuya clenched in my hands, dragging across the floor as though too heavy to lift any further, and the hilt of Derflinger peeking out over my shoulder. All said and done, it made me look like some kind of heroic martyr, a wounded soldier tired of the world and its troubles and on my last breath.

"That was a very thoughtful thing of you to do, Guiche," I finally managed to get out, still staring at the likeness of me without the first clue about what I was going to do about it. I mean, my first inclination was to strike it down and cut it into small unrecognizable pieces. But this was probably Guiche's first foray into anything that wasn't self centered. I didn't think it would encourage him to continue the trend if I reacted negatively to it.

"Thank you, Sir Emiya," he responded, sounding proud now that he knew I wasn't about to snap and kill him for it. "I was originally intending to put a plaque on the bottom reading, 'In Memory of the Sacrifice of Sir Shirou Emiya'," he continued, indicating a small section at the base of the statue that was smoothed and ready for inscription, "but I didn't think it would be right to do so while Louise and her handmaiden were still clinging to the belief that you were alive."

"Did you know about this," I asked Tabitha, who was standing behind the two of us. She nodded wordlessly, still reading.

It had taken a bit of effort to get Sylphid to calm down enough for the two of us to not have to worry about her accidently speaking in front of others, and finally I had to promise her extra extra helpings tomorrow morning so that she'd go into the woods surrounding the castle again. I had managed to get the story of exactly how I ended up in Tabitha's room of all places while healing from Guiche when we met up with him on the way to my statue. It seemed that part of Sylphid's master plan was to dive bomb me, hug me, and then carry me to her master's room where I would then be forced to pet her incessantly till she calmed down. After Tabitha had gotten Montmorency to heal me after they tracked me down, they had let me rest in the room until the dragon had calmed down enough.

"You did?" Guiche asked, surprised at Tabitha's affirmative. "I had kept the area concealed while I was working by covering it with an enchanted cloth." He looked disappointed that apparently someone had caught on to his work. "I only finished it two days ago, and the only person I showed it to so far was Montmorency, right before I transfigured it."

"Sky," Tabitha said in response. I nodded, still not able to drag my eyes away from the statue itself. Sensing Guiche's confusion I explained for the smaller girl.

"She has a dragon. Did you think to cover it from above as well?" Guiche's eyes widened and he let loose an 'ah' of understanding.

"So no one knows about it yet?" I asked, desperately hoping this was so, and trying to come up with a reason, any reason, to keep it that way.

"Shirou!" a voice called out from behind the three of us, and I cringed. "There you are. Are you feeling…" the voice broke out and the next thing I heard was a strangled, "Merciful Root!"

"That was my reaction as well, Louise," I remarked wryly, still feeling a little shell shocked.

"Isn't it wonderful?" another voice chimed in, sounding proud. It looked like Montmorency and Louise had approached us together at the same time, both of them searching for their respective male. "Guiche showed it to me only a few days ago. He was waiting for you to come back so that you could see it before he put the plaque on as well." The female blond seemed inordinately pleased with the male blonde's thoughtfulness, and then seemed to realize that I was here as well. "Ah," the curly haired girl noble girl exclaimed. "Well, now that we know for sure that he isn't dead, I suppose the memorial isn't really necessary."

"No," I agreed as Louise walked up to stand next to me so that she could gawk at the statue more properly. "I don't suppose it is."

"This is…" Louise looked lost for words for a second, her eyes wide as she gaped at bronze figure. "…This is actually really good," she finally admitted, seeming as surprised as I was by the craftsmanship even if she hadn't yet decided just how she felt about it emotionally yet.

"Thank you," Guiche accepted the complement as graciously as he used to, posing dramatically as he did so, preening under the attention he was getting. "I was originally going to ask your permission before dedicating this as a memorial of his life, but now that he has returned triumphant, perhaps it would better serve as a commemoration of his victory?" What was he…? "Perhaps 'The King of Swords on the Hills of Saxe-Gotha'?" he suggested pompously.

Damn you, Root. I know you're intelligent, and I know you're enjoying this way too much.

Whatever any of us might have had to say to that was interrupted as yet another set of newcomers found their way to the unfolding drama.

"Darling!" the siren call of the amorous redhead echoed through the courtyard. I had too much trouble dragging my shell shocked gaze away from the statue, and thus didn't respond in time to dodge the flying tackle from Kirche. I staggered, waving my arms desperately to try and keep my balance, and even then I almost ended up losing my footing and taking a tumble.

At least this flying tackle didn't result in me needing medical treatment.

"Murfphle mhm murphle," I managed to get out from where I had found it sunk once more into Kirche's valley of sinful delight.

"Oh Darling!" the redhead proclaimed, and the tone of her voice was enough to let me forgive her overzealous greeting. She sounded genuinely relieved and happy to see me alive. For the first time since it happened, I was actually grateful that Louise had managed to pull one over on me and force me back into contract. I had known the effect I had on my pink haired Master, and worried over it. But letting her to mourn for me, however necessary it was, had also meant letting the others in the school that I had connected with mourn as well.

I grimaced, face still concealed by Kirche's bosoms, so that no one would see it. Taken in that light, my plan to wait till late at night and smash the statue didn't suddenly seem too viable anymore. Despite how embarrassing I found it, it was a genuine sign of Guiche's mourning, and destroying it because it made me uncomfortable just seemed inappropriate in light of that.

Maybe I could convince him to sell it to someone? Someone very far away, preferably.

Even as Kirche decided to let words die in favor of renewing her skinship with me, another voice called out. "Shirou!" For some reason, Professor Colbert seemed especially grateful to see me alive. I couldn't see him, not surprising considering how my sight was blocked, but I could hear his steps on the grass as he approached the small gathering of students. "I had heard you were alive, but could scarce bring myself to believe it," he continued, and the thankfulness at seeing his co-conspirator in mechanics still breathing and in front of him once more was apparent even without my sight.

Still unable to talk, or for that matter breathe properly, I instead lifted one hand up in the direction of his voice and gave him a thumbs up. Gently, I placed the other on Kirche's back. Quietly, so quietly I don't think any of the others could hear it, I heard the forward redhead sniff slightly, and felt her relax a little at my touch. Kirche was a physical being, and so the comfort of having me physically in her arms, and to feel mine around her, was probably the best way to confirm to her that yes, I truly was back.

"Darling," she murmured, and then seemed to collect herself. When her embrace changed from one of physical confirmation to one of skilled seduction, I began to try and pry her off instead of comforting her. Kirche continued, still latched on to me as I struggled to separate us enough for me to breath. "Oh Darling," she cooed. "I'm so glad you're back! Now I can finally get you away from that crow, Louise, and into the arms of a real woman where you belong!"

"Crow?" Louise gaped, and finally seemed to realize just what was happening. With an indignant squawk, she joined me in the horrific struggle of pulling the now firmly latched redhead off of me. "Kirche! He's back for less than two hours and you're already back at it again! Where's your noble pride?" the pinkette scolded the redhead, and with her assistance I finally managed to get one of the latching girls arms off of my head long enough for me to pull back enough to almost breathe.

"Oh pooh, little girl," Kirche dismissed her, summoning before unseen power to drag me back down into the crevice of her breasts. "Now that Darling is back he, my Beloved Professor Colbert, and I can retire back to my room for a proper welcome back!"

Wait. What the hell was that?

"Shirou, Professor Colbert, and you?" Louise gasped, and froze, allowing Kirche long enough to readjust her grip on me long enough for one of her hands to snake off and latch onto something that gave a strangled yelp when she grabbed it. Judging from the tone of it, it was probably her 'Beloved Professor Colbert'. "B-b-but! W-w-w-what!" The shock of the declaration was apparently enough to have driven Louise catatonic.

"Just as Shirou's manliness has moved me so," Kirche explained, sounding perfectly reasonable as she did so, "Professor's Colbert's soft spoken strength too has moved my passionate heart! This is the way of love, little girl! Love!"

"Miss Zerbst," Colbert protested, sounding like he was way out of his depths, and just discovered that he was surrounded by sharks as well, and apparently suffering from numerous bleeding paper cuts to boot. "You are a student and I am a teacher! That kind of thing is improper!"

"Indecent!" Montmorency declared as well, sounding deliciously appalled by the very prospect of it.

"Such a thing! With two men! It just isn't done!" Guiche offered to the conversation, sounding that for all his love of women, there were some things he just didn't consider an acceptable action.

"Oh? So if it was two women instead, it would be appropriate?" Montmorency sounded like she had turned on the blond earth mage, and didn't seem happy with him at all anymore.

"T-t-t-that's it! Zerbst! G-g-get off my S-s-s-servant this instant!" It sounded as though Louise had finally managed to reboot her systems long enough to enter her 'towering wrath' zone. With the awesome strength her righteous anger managed to impart to her, I finally found myself enough room to breathe again. "As though my Servant would involve himself in something as torrid as a threesome!" Finally free from my pillowy prison, I gasped for breath.

In retrospect, I blamed my lack of oxygen on the first thing I said after I was free. "Not again anyway."

As I finally managed to fill my lungs with air again, the only sound that greeted me was absolute silence. Looking up, I found that everyone there, even Tabitha, was staring at me. Thinking back on what I just said, I felt my face turn white.

I didn't really just confirm the rumors of me having been involved in previous numerous partner sex, did I?

"So it's true," Kirche whispered, sounding awed to finally be in the presence of someone that wasn't hopelessly prudish by her standards, like the rest of the world seemed to be. "You really have been with two women at once!" She clasped both her hands under her chin, and released a sigh of pure happiness. "Oh Darling! You no longer have to be afraid anymore! I understand your hungers! I have them as well! Come! Let us spend the night in unending bliss, a tangle of arms and limbs, sampling all the delights of the flesh as we do so!"

When she leapt at me, apparently intending to initiate an encounter right here and now, I briefly thought about throwing Louise at her and making an escape, but knew it would be pointless. Kirche had already come to a conclusion, and unless I could convince her otherwise, she would never cease in her pursuit of me.

Besides, I could imagine Kirche just brining Louise along and using the opportunity to both satisfy her desires and corrupt a member of the Valliere family simultaneously.

So instead, I used Tabitha instead. Kirche seemed capable of constraining herself for Tabitha's sake at least.

Tabitha didn't seem to mind me grabbing her by the back of her shirt and using her as a redhead repelling talisman as I desperately sought to convince the amorous Germanian that it wasn't what she thought. Instead, the small blue haired girl just continued to read. "It's not like that! It was a ritual! A desperate tantric empowerment ritual! It was a matter of life or death!"

I felt a brief moment of fear when I realized that my frantic explanation might not be enough to curtail the now extremely motivated Kirche from dragging me into her room. Luckily, I found salvation from Kirche's other apparent new interest. "Tantric empowerment ritual?" Professor Colbert spoke up, his academic curiosity overriding his common sense as he called attention to himself. The rest of the clearing was in chaos, as Louise had clapped her hand over her mouth, blushing so darkly that her face was darker then her hair. Montmorency also was blushing, though it seemed that she hers was less out of embarrassment and more out of feminine indignation. Guiche was just staring at me with wide worship laden eyes as it was finally confirmed in his eyes that I really was just that amazing by his standards.

Luckily, Colbert's intervention seemed to have distracted Kirche long enough for me to continue my explanation.

"Yes! Tantric sex magic! It's one of the older and less well regarded magic arts in my homeland! It uses the primal emotions evoked through intercourse to achieve effects that are hard to match with conventional magics! It was during one of my earlier conflicts. I had been abducted by one of my enemies, and in order to recover me my allies had to risk battle with an incredibly powerful foe. We managed to escape with only one of us getting injured before retreating, but we were still being hunted in the enemy territory. In order for one of my other allies to recover enough mana to use her attacks, we had to resort to unconventional means! The other girl participated in the ritual because if it didn't work we were all going to be slaughtered and she wanted to make sure it worked right!"

Luckily, it seemed that the scenario described was just so outrageous that it actually succeeded in distracting Kirche long enough for me to maneuver Colbert between the two of us. Thus, with two human shields including the still clutched in my hands, Tabitha, I felt at least marginally safer.

"So the ritual itself was used to transfer 'mana'?" Colbert spoke up, and I blessed him from the bottom of my soul for serving as a distraction. The professor's eyes narrowed in thought, and then suddenly they widened in shock. "You mean that your homeland actually developed a technique to recharge willpower?" he gasped, now completely ignoring the sexual nature of the conversation in order to focus on the academic.

And astonishingly enough, his observation was enough to change the mood of the conversation entirely. Everyone including Kirche, who looked like she was trying to find a way to sneak around the obstacles between herself and I, and even Tabitha, who had been bearing the abuse heaped upon her with great patience, stared in surprise at Colbert's declaration. One of the biggest limiters of a mage in this world's power was there so called 'willpower'. From their description it was the intangible ability they had to manipulate the elements and was depleted with every spell they cast. The higher the level of the spell, the greater the drain on this hypothetical attribute. It eventually recharged, but they had no way of predicting just how fast it would after each spell, especially those of triangle class or higher.

If the situation was a little more controlled, I'd make a compelling argument about how what they called 'willpower' could very well be the less scientific name for what my homeland called 'od'.

However, I was too busy promising the Root that if it just let them get distracted enough to forget about the previous conversation, then I would never blame it again for situations like this.

"It's a little known and mostly scorned ritual," I confirmed for Colbert, "but the situation was just so bad that we tried it anyway."

"So that's what happened," Louise whispered, her voice nearly inaudible. I glanced at her to find her looking disturbed. It seemed that she had witnessed the event itself via the dream cycle, but hadn't known the circumstances behind it. It also looked like she felt maybe a little uncomfortable having spread rumors about my experience as a joke.

Actually, in retrospect, the rumors were pretty damn funny. If I wasn't so on edge from the whole situation, I might have taken the moment to assure her that I wasn't holding a grudge.

"Amazing," Colbert whispered, his hand on his head as his thoughts raced furiously. "Shirou," he declared, looking up at me with an expression of devout all consuming passion for knowledge. "If it's possible, could I witness the ritual myself? If I could manage to isolate the variables, then this could be one of the most important discoveries for our culture in millennia!"

On my back, Derflinger, who had been watching the entire debacle unfold, began to snicker.

"Professor!" Montmorency gasped, sounding truly shocked at the implication.

"Ah," Colbert gaped, surprised at the sudden scolding nature of his female blonde student's tone. "What is it?"

"Think about what you just asked," Louise ground out, looking equally appalled by the professor's unthinking request. Sure enough, her small hands were clenching a wand tightly, shaking with emotion.

"What I just…." Colbert finally understood just what he had proposed a few moments ago, and then turned every bit as red as Louise and Montmorency both currently were in embarrassment. "Ah! I didn't mean…" he trailed off, apparently unable to complete the sentence.

"Oh, Beloved," Kirche told him, smiling salaciously. "Don't worry. I'm sure Darling and I will be able to show it off for you."

Okay. Seriously, Root. Don't push it. I'm already struggling with the thought that I might be turning into one of the most distasteful people I had ever met, while dealing with the looming threat of shadowy enemies in the background, had just been tackled by a dragon, and then discovered that I had a statue made of me. I know you find some kind of twisted amusement out of my suffering, but seriously, don't push it.

"So if this 'tantric ritual' was just to provide one of the girls with willpower," Montmorency spoke up, looking like she was skeptical but willing to entertain the thought for the purpose of argument, "then why did the other girl have to participate?"

I measured my response. Yes, the truth would probably come as an incredibly emasculating blow to me, but if that was what it took to keep the already wide spread rumor from growing even further, and more importantly, if that was what it took to cool down Kirche, then the truth was what it would be. "Because contrary to popular belief, men aren't perpetually horny animals only obsessed with sex. I had just escaped from having been abducted, one of our party was injured, another was on her last leg, we were in hostile territory, and we were being hunted by an unstoppable killing machine the likes of which I haven't met again. What part of that sounds at all even remotely attractive to you?"

Honestly, when I look back at that occasion, it isn't with anything resembling fondness at all. The biggest memories of that night, despite what so many would consider the achievement of a lifelong dream of conquest, was the fact that I spent most of the night absolutely convinced that every moment of it was going to be my last.

At least my explanation had managed to reach Louise and Montmorency. Those two were the quintessential picture of young sheltered females, ignoring Louise's exposure to violence anyway. They still had dreams of being swept off their feet and having their first nights being romantic occasions full of exploration and tenderness. They could definitely see how the scenario I was painting would not be conducive to romantics. Colbert also settled into that grouping as well. With a cringe that displayed just how well he sympathized with my situation at the time, he looked like he was honestly apologetic for having brought up the whole traumatic experience in the first place.

I started when I felt a small hand get placed on mine. I had nearly completely forgotten that I was still wielding Tabitha as a warding charm, but it appeared the quiet girl was offering me her sympathy. Her other hand was still holding a book to her face, but it was the thought that counted.

"Sir Emiya," a strangled sounding voice came from the third male in the clearing. Guiche was staring at me as though he expected the clouds above me to part at any moment and a halo of holy light to shine down upon me afterwards. "Are you saying that in order to stop a truly powerful enemy, you had to have sex with two women at once, and that it actually made one of them powerful enough to win against a foe you had no hope of defeating before?"

"Well, I wouldn't put it that way," I hedged, not liking it when he described it in that fashion.

"Truly, you are the greatest of men," Guiche murmured, staring at me in awe. "How did you put it before? Badass? Is there anything you do that is not badass?"

"The power of Darling's love," Kiche murmured, licking her lips and running a finger down the neckline of her blouse. "I must experience it for myself!" Quickly, I brandished Tabitha again, though it looked like the power of the blue haired girl was waning. It seemed it might not be enough to stop the redhead this time. I circled desperately, trying to get as many people between Kirche and myself as possible.

It was during this face off that Kirche suddenly stopped and cocked her head to the side? "Oh? When did a statue get here?"

"Are you only now noticing it?" Louise ground out, apparently having reached the point where she was no longer able to be shocked by the conversation. Guiche, who was trying to act like he hadn't just complimented me for doing something kinky in front of his girlfriend, spoke up, also eager to change the subject now that Montmorency was mad at him again.

"Ah," the earth mage started, posing with his rose again. "Do you like it? It was meant to be a memorial, but now I was thinking of making it a commemoration," he explained to the now distracted Kirche, who was eying the statue with all of her attention. I used the opportunity to once more get Colbert between me and her. When Tabitha tapped my hand, I took it to mean that she was telling me Kirche had finally been thrown off my trail enough to warrant me letting her go. I put her back on her feet, but made sure to keep her nearby in case I needed her again. The ice mage just continued reading where I put her.

"It's very well done," Kirche admitted eying the detail of the statue, and then turning back to me to compare. I tensed, but all the girl did was hold up two fingers as though framing me, and then turning back to the statue to hold the same to fingers up again. It looked like she was just checking the proportions. "Tell me, do you do commissions?" she asked the blonde hopefully.

"You know, I never thought of that," Guiche admitted, scratching his chin thoughtfully as he considered. "It is an honorable work that many earth mages take up," he considered, "and it might be a good way for me to further sharpen my skills. Perhaps it might be what it takes to help me achieve triangle class…"

"I would pay handsomely for a figurine of my Darling, my Beloved, and myself," Kirche tempted him. When Montmorency and Louise both gasped and turned red again, as well as Professor Colbert letting out a strangled noise, I didn't understand what was making them so upset.

And then I remembered the figurine that Guiche had found in the Temple of Brisingamen, and recalled that such things were this lands equivalent of explicit material.

Alright, Root. That does it. All the other stuff, I could handle in time. But now I have to worry about having unauthorized porn of me circling the country as well?"

"Derflinger," I spoke up, interrupting the budding negotiations and drawing surprised attention to me by the sudden seriousness of my tone. "I've decided on a course of action."

"Oh?" the sword managed to get out, still snickering at the scene it had just witnessed. "What might that be?"

"I've decided that I shall slaughter the innocent," I told it bluntly.

"Wait, what?" Louise yelped, surprised by my sudden bloodthirstiness. Montmorency began to look very nervous indeed, and hid behind Guiche completely this time.

"I shall murder all who stand in my way, sparing none, until my name is synonymous with fear itself, thus cementing my status as an Anti-Hero," I continued, outlining my plan to the blade that suddenly wasn't giggling anymore. "Then, once my reign of terror is finally ended, I shall wait patiently at the Throne of Heroes for however how long it takes until one of the infinite realities that exist that still performs the ritual of the Holy Grail War summons me forth. Then, I shall resume killing all around me until my blood stained hands hold the Holy Grail itself. Once I have the all powerful artifact, I shall use it to force the Root of the World, the well spring of all creation, to assume a human male form in my presence." I paused dramatically, picturing the scene as it would be. "And then I'm going to kick it in the balls so hard that all of reality will simultaneously feel it."

"Um," Derflinger started, not sure of what to say to that. "That's…that's good, Partner." It paused. "I think."

"Thank you," I told it politely, my hand moving up to hold to wrap around its hilt. "And I shall start, with this academy." I turned grimly to face the castle proper, preparing to march off and commence my new found quest.

"No!" Louise instantly shouted, looking very worried. "No killing the innocent, Shirou!"

"You can help," I assured her. "Just think of it as getting vengeance on all those who once looked down on you."

I made it about a step before I felt something hook onto my belt. With a glance I discovered that Tabitha had apparently hooked her crooked staff onto my cloak and was attempting to stop me. She apparently wasn't putting too much effort into it, as the threat of all her classmates being killed in front of her wasn't enough for her to stop reading.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I told her politely. "After I finish off here, is there anyone you'd like me to kill too?" Tabitha seemed to hesitate, looking like she was thinking very hard about my offer, before nodding slightly.

"Well then! They can be next," I told her happily, and continued to walk towards my grim task. It seemed as though she still hadn't decided if she should let me carry out my threat, because she kept trying to hold me back with her staff. My momentum caused her to drag across the ground behind me.

"Quick!" Louise yelped, "Stop him!" She leapt onto the staff as well, adding her weight to it and slowing me down marginally as she began to get dragged behind as well.

"Darling!" Kirche scolded me, "there's no need to go so far! Come back to my room, and we can find another way for you to release your pent up aggression," she tried to tempt me.

"You can help too," I told her instead, still dragging the two girls behind me. Finally realizing the seriousness of the situation, Guiche finally launched himself at the staff as well, adding his weight. Professor Colbert, looking incredibly unnerved joined them. The four of them were nearly enough to slow me to a stop, but still I persevered.

"Now why would I want to do something like that when I can think of other, more amusing things to do?" Kirche asked me skeptically.

"You can have first choice of the males to keep as pleasure slaves," I negotiated with her. "And the opportunity to wear a lot of kinky black leather and sexy chainmail."

"Oh!" Kirche gasped, apparently liking the sound of that. "Sexy chainmail you say?" she asked, sounding as though she was finding the idea to be very tempting indeed.

"Yes. Very sexy, very brief chainmail," I assured her.

"No!" Louise scolded the redhead, looking worried that my negotiations might garner me an ally. "You can do that without going on a killing spree. Now get over here and help us!" she ordered the Germanian.

"Oh pooh," Kirche muttered, before finally lending her weight to the cause. Still, I persevered. I had been pushed too far! I deserved this vengeance! Root! You just buy a cup and wait. I'm coming for my just dues.

"Ah!" another voice called out. Seven heads turned to the side to see who it was that had interrupted the moment. "What is going on here?" Siesta asked, looking very confused at the sight of five people trying to hold me back via a staff hooked to my belt, and one very nervous looking blond standing on the sidelines wondering if she should start running or start helping.

Louise's eyes lit up. "Siesta!" she ordered, pointing her finger at me. The maid, who looked like she had only just arrived back from the port town of La Rochelle and was still carrying our combined luggage, 'eeped' at the suddenness of Louise's attention. "Perfect! Shirou is going to slaughter the innocent! For the innocent, Siesta. For the innocent!"

Not knowing just what was going on, but recognizing the call to duty nonetheless, Siesta dropped the baggage that she was carrying and put both hands up in front of her face. Clenching them into righteous fists, she set her face in determination. "For the innocent!" she declared, steeling herself for the arduous task that lay ahead of her.

And then she tackled me from the side, and I found myself once more in a place too similar to where I had been a few minutes before.

I struggled, trying to break free, but Siesta proved every bit as tenacious as Kirche had been earlier. "You can't stop me forever!" I managed to get out, pulling my head far enough out of Siesta's bust to get that much out. "I will have my vengeance!"

"For the innocent!" Siesta declared happily back, dragging me back down into her chest.

"Ah," I heard Kirche mutter as the others released sighs of relief. "If that was all it would have taken, I could have done it myself."

*Scene Break*

"Are you calmer now, Shirou?" Louise asked me, giving me nervous looks. I 'hmphed', sipping my tea while I sulked.

"More tea, Mr. Derflinger?" Siesta asked cheerfully, sounding very satisfied with her contribution to society today.

"Yes, please," the sword told her politely. After my aborted attempt at villainy Professor Colbert, Kirche, Louise, Siesta, and I had retired to Professor Colbert's laboratory. It was a cluttered and homey looking room at the edges of the castle, so that the strange smells and apparently frequent explosions that emerged from it wouldn't disturb the rest of the castle over much.

"If you don't mind me asking," Professor Colbert finally started, apparently satisfied that my killing frenzy had been sufficiently abated. "Just what is this Root that you always seem to talk about?" It looked like Colbert was attempting to take shelter in academia once more.

"It's the well spring of all existence," I muttered sullenly. "It's the absolute location, the very center of all creation. It's the realm or dimension or world, or whatever you want to call it, that exists above and outside of all other creation or time." That didn't seem to really explain the concept very well to them, as Colbert just looked even more confused.

"Above and outside of all other creation or time?" he repeated, leaning a bit to the side as Kirche, who was currently plastered to his arm, leaned in and began toying with the buttons of his robe. It was such a practiced maneuver that it left me wondering just when this strange play had developed between the two of them.

"It's more of a concept than anything else," I tried again, searching for the right words to describe the Root. "I suppose you could call it the absolute void from which all else sprang. It's kind of like the starting point for every event in existence, no matter what world or what time."

"The void?" Louise chirped in, honing in on the word specifically for obvious reasons.

"Not like the element," I told her tiredly. Now that my plot for revenge had been foiled by the happily flitting about maid, I was just feeling grumpy. "It exists as an absolute. If anything, the void element could well have been named after it, if anyone in this world had knowledge of the existence of the Root." Still seeing that no one had any idea what I was talking about I sighed again. "Just think of it like God, only if God was a location and not a person."

"Ah," Colbert said, taking my blasphemous statement academically and trying to wrap his mind around the concept of a higher entity that wasn't an anthropomorphic being and was instead an anthropomorphic place. When Kirche began to play with the hair around his ear, I finally couldn't stop the curiosity from overwhelming my sulk.

"I'm sure there's a very good story for the two of you," I commented. "But just why is it that you decided to seduce Professor Colbert as well as myself, Kirche?"

"Jealous?" the redhead purred, and apparently decided to up her seduction attempt in order to provoke the supposed emotion further from me. Honestly, I was just relieved that someone else was apparently going to be splitting her attention with me. "My Beloved simply proved himself to be every bit as manly and powerful as you are."

I turned my face to Colbert, who was looking very uncomfortable at the moment, and raised an eyebrow. Hopefully his explanation would prove a little more useful than Kirche's had.

Turning his face to the side, Colbert grimaced. "During my youth," he began, apparently deciding to tell the story and not liking the decision very much, "I was part of a small elite member of the military. While I was a member, I did many terrible things in the name of duty. After I retired, I decided to dedicate my life to finding ways to prove that the flame magic that I wield had other uses, better uses, then the horrors I had committed with them." That explained his obsession with mechanics I suppose. I leaned back in my chair, sipping my tea carefully as I watched him. It looked like Siesta and Louise both already knew this story, probably having heard it during the time I was recovering in Albion. "During the war, Albion hired a small mercenary force to seize the academy in order to hold the students hostage in order to force their parents out of the war. The one who was leading the unit was one of my one time subordinates. Unfortunately, it fell to me to see to it that he was stopped."

"My Beloved was so manly, so strong," Kirche gushed, putting one hand over her heart and fanning herself with the other as she flushed at the memory. It seemed that Kirche's number one turn on was strong, violent men. Who would have known? "The way he wielded his fire magic, it was so…." She flushed even further, breathing out the last word like a caress, "…hot." I had a feeling she wasn't just talking about the actual heat of Colbert's fire magic.

I sat in silence, my mind whirling over what had been revealed. My mind flitted back to a cold night in Albion, a story told over a shared sack of wine. Siesta had mentioned that there had been trouble at the academy, and that Agnes had been stationed at the castle for a bit…

"Professor," I began, eyeing him carefully. "You wouldn't happen to have a large burn scar on your back, would you?" His eyes shot open at my question.

"How did you know?" he gasped, staring at me in surprise. I closed my eyes, ignoring his question in favor of my thoughts. So this was the one who Agnes had hunted for so long. I was surprised.

After having heard her story, I would have thought that she had killed the one she had mentioned at the end of her tale.

Instead, I asked a question. "Professor. Would you mind if I performed an experiment?"

Still confused by my actions, Colbert blinked. "Why of course! Knowledge is always to be treasured. What did you have in mind?"

Without another word, I traced Kanshou in my hand, and whipped it with all the speed of my traced limb combined with Gandalfr's power. The girls didn't even have time to blink before my attack was already over. With a move nearly as fast as mine, Colbert has brought his staff to his hand, and with a burst of fire so hot that it glowed white, had redirected the sword up over his head with such power that it was wrenched from my grip and buried itself deeply into the roof above us.

"What in the Root do you think you're doing, Shirou?" Louise shrieked at me once she realized that I had just tried to kill the professor in front of me that I had got along with so well. Siesta took a deep breath and put down the teapot she had been carting around, looking prepared to once more sacrifice herself for the greater good.

"If you're that jealous of the attention, you only needed to say so," Kirche told me, apparently taking the attempted murder in stride. Considering the way she juggled men around, it probably wasn't that uncommon for her actually.

The only ones who didn't move or react with surprise were Colbert and I. "And what was that experiment supposed to prove, Shirou?" Colbert asked me quietly, not changing his expression more than to raise his eyebrow.

"Unbelievable," I murmured, throwing off the mounting tension of the girls. "Unbelievable. To think that there would be another like Karin here, under my nose the entire time."

"Shirou?" Louise asked, my declaration throwing off her mounting lecture as she blinked at me in confusion.

"He's like Karin the 'Heavy Wind', Louise," I told her softly. "He has no combat presence at all." Louise's eyes widened as she realized just what that meant in terms of Colbert's power and combat experience. Now it was her turn to stare at Colbert as well.

"Ah? Does that mean that Professor Colbert is strong?" Siesta asked, sounding confused by my unusual declaration.

"Karin?" Colbert asked as well, sounding surprised that I had brought up that legend. "You know Karin? I haven't seen her in decades. How is she?" Now it was Kirche's turn to be surprised at the casual mention of Professor Colbert knowing a legend personally.

"She's well enough," I told him, glancing at Louise as I did so. She nervously shook her head slightly in a negative. It looks like she didn't want people to know her connection to her mother. "At least from what I could determine anyway. She's not much for displaying emotions, as I'm sure you remember."

Colbert gave a small smile, apparently remembering something. "No, she never was."

With a sigh, I shook my head. "When I first got to this world, I had thought that it was full of nothing but immature and selfish mages. Now I come across two who have achieved the height of combat, who have immersed themselves so deeply in it that they spend every waking moment prepared for it." I sighed, and raked my hand tiredly through my hair. "What kind of monsters does this world spawn?" I asked the world in general. That seemed to disgruntle the room at large, a person like me casually calling others monstrous. I was too worn out to care at the moment. Maybe it was just their generation, or maybe it was just coincidence that there would be two so powerful people that I would run into. Whatever the case was, combined with the unnerving reminder of my potential future, it looked like I had grown too lax.

If this was the level of enemy that I might have to face while in service of my Master, than it seems I will have to start training myself that much harder to be ready for them.

*Scene Break*

_ As Louise once more lay in her soft bed in her room at the academy, her Servant a comforting presence in the room after having been absent for so long, she reflected back on the day with mixed feelings._

_ Yes, there had been a few parts that were less than optimal. Shirou having what appeared to be a psychotic breakdown and threatening to go on a killing spree counted as one of them. His instant and unwarned attempt on Professor Colbert's life another._

_ Besides those two stumbling blocks, she felt that the rest of the day had gone pretty well. In fact, she would go so far as to declare the day a nearly complete success. It had been fumbling, with the ineptitude of one who had long forgotten the basics of the task they were attempting to undertake, but Shirou had solidly connected with the people around him in a way that didn't involve violence. _

_ The quiet understanding that lay between him and Tabitha, the unconventional camaraderie and mentor role that he had with Guiche, the physical connection that came from the casual intimacy that Kirche displayed on him, even the professional curiosity that he and Colbert shared. Louise couldn't remember when these things had started to deepen beyond simple casual interaction, but she could see what they had become; friends, perhaps even comrades._

_ She couldn't remember in the dreams, couldn't find the reference needed to know how long it had been since he had truly had those besides him. How long it had been since his hot anger had been consumed by cold wrath? But hopefully time away from battle, time surrounded by warm companionship, replete with silly games and casual banter, would rekindle the fire in him._

_ She hoped that would be what it took in order help straighten out her crooked Servant. If it was, then she would give him just that, even if it required throwing him to Kirche to do it. The fiery Germanian probably could. That girl knew more about being kindled than anyone else in the country probably. Louise had to admit that much at least. Even if she was a Zerbst._

_ And so, with that somewhat ambiguous and rather ambitious plan in mind, Louise settled herself in to sleep._

_ Perhaps it was her train of thoughts that led to it, but that night, when she dreamed of swords and battle, she dreamed of the earlier times, when Shirou still had those around him. Like she had so long ago when she first experienced the dream cycle, she hoped again that the dreams were at least somewhat prophetic. _


	18. Distant Utopia: The Eighteenth night

Hill of Swords: Distant Utopia: the Eighteenth night

Author's note: Well, it seems as though the insane updating schedule of the past has now been firmly replaced by my more normal one. To all of you who were spoiled by the idea of receiving a new thirty page update every other day, sorry. Blame real life. And my new pet ferret. And classes. And bills. You get the idea. Still, I am approaching the end of the story, and have plans for the last few chapters which have me really excited, so I suspect you all will have no worries about this story being forgotten and left at the wayside. Even if my interest might have been waning, which it wasn't, having just managed to track down a copy of the Unlimited Blade Works movie would have been more than enough to get me back on track. For those of you who don't know much about F/sn, I don't think you'll get as much out of it as those of us who do. The show feels more like a highlights reel, since it had so many hours of game play to draw on and try to work in. Still, even if you don't know much about it, it's still probably worth a watch, if for nothing else then the good animation, except for the damn CGI dolphin, and the vast number of GAR moments provided for Shirou and Archer.

Now, onto the notes about the chapter. Ahem.

*Spoiler's ahead!*

I'm personally not to sure how i feel about this chapter. The first part of it feels way too much like a gigantic info dump then an actual narrative. I tried to keep it interesting, but in the end this chapter ended up being mostly filler to set me up for the closing arc of the story. Very little action in this one, but the next few chapters promise to make up for that pretty nicely in my book.

I think the biggest thing to note in this chapter is of course the interaction between Shirou and Tabitha. I felt I needed to provide an opportunity for the two of them to have a meaningful interaction, a chance for the reader to be able to see that there was a bond between the two of them before the next chapter. Of course, then I had the opportunity to work Kirche in, and discovered once again just how much fun she is to write once more.

The other big thing I want to call attention to is of course the weapon that Shirou traces in this episode. I have decided in this case that rather than offering cookies to anyone who can identify this weapon, I am instead going to punish ignorance for those who have no idea what it is. I mean seriously, everyone should know this baby. So because of that, if you don't know what the weapon is, I'm going to release my recently acquired ferret to attack your ankles. Seriously. She's been practicing on me, and she knows what she's doing.

Now, as always, like anything in particular? Go ahead and call it out. Anything you're confused about? Ask away. Anything you particularly dislike? As always, be respectful and I'll gladly listen. Now, on with the chapter!

*Story Start*

I grimaced as the tree I had been hiding behind once more exploded into potentially dangerous shrapnel. Moving fast I continued my darting advance, attempting to close with my target. It didn't help that the terrain was different from what I was used to, and that I ran the risk of stumbling and not dodging in time. Sure, this was just another practices session, but with Louise gearing up to try and put a stop to me, it amounted to a live fire exercise against a bazooka.

It was made a great deal more precarious when added to the fact that this time I wasn't using a weapon. Without the glow of Gandalfr's runes, the battle was a far cry from some of the other training the two of us got up to.

Good. If I was going to undo the complacency that had I had recently fallen into, it was time for me to up the danger of my training.

Louise was in fine form on the other hand. She had long ago shed the bad habits that many of the caster's in this world had; she never kept herself in the same place for long, darting behind cover of her own, attempting to flank me and outmaneuver me just as I was doing the same to her, casting her best spell, Explosion, in utter silence, only vocalizing when she was casting one of her less practiced spells. Recently she had begun mastering the Illusion and Dispel spells to an extent that they were now usable in a one on one fast paced battle like this one. Dispel was proven to be more or less meaningless against me, seeing as how it lacked the ability to truly unmake my more powerful weapons. Experimentation had revealed that while it was enough to disrupt the tracing of a mundane blade, it would do little more than disperse the coalesced od that I had pumped into any of my more specialized weapons. Illusion had met with far greater success, at least academically. She was able to cast it quickly and on the run, but against an experienced foe like myself, well, it was pointless. I might be seeing a second Louise charging through the field of combat, raising a wand and chanting, but I was also seeing the formless construct not disturbing the ground around it as it moved.

Still, against anyone that wasn't collected enough to notice that the grass beneath its feet wasn't bending, the Illusion spell could prove devastating indeed.

Without the enhancement of Gandalfr on my side, it would seem as though this would be a foe that victory would be near hopeless to attain against. Sadly for her, what Louise had in sheer destructive potential and diversity of affect, she lacked in experience and endurance. And just because I wasn't using weapons, didn't mean I was unarmed. I had put an entire weekend into carving a series of wooden practice swords into various sizes and shapes that corresponded to a variety of my potential weapons. They broke pretty quickly, considering that they were just wood and Louise was hurtling destructive force enough to shatter castle walls, but that didn't matter. Even if it came out weaker than the original, I was still tracing a near endless supply of them.

A fact that I reminded Louise of when she got overconfident, stuck her head out to far while trying to track my movements, and I lobbed a wooden spear at her forehead.

With a noise that could most accurately be described as a 'urk', the training for the day ended as the wood 'thunked' against Louise's forehead. For all the progress my Master had made, she was still innately delicate. She was definitely going to have a goose egg until we could get her to a water mage to clear that up. For a moment I almost wished we could have these practices sessions closer to the castle, but with the sheer strangeness of her spells when compared to any of the traditional four elements, Louise was still adamant about training in secret.

Wiping the sweat from my own forehead, I moved to collect my still rather tiny Master so that I could get her back to the clearing we had abandoned earlier during the session. Ever since I started training without using either Gandalfr or reinforcement, these sessions had gotten a lot harder on me as well. Fighting at unenhanced speeds against a mage while using only simulated weaponry was very much like bringing a knife to a gunfight. What I used to be able to manage using only speed to dodge and Derflinger to protect I now had to make up for with tactics and planning. Louise's magic, even toned down as she kept it during training was almost instantly debilitating when it struck.

When I made it back to the clearing, carrying Louise bridal style, I was greeted with what was now a familiar sight and the call of, "Welcome back, Master!"

"Thank you, Siesta," I told the happy maid who had somehow managed to bring an entire table and chairs combination along with complete tea set and collection of small cakes and cookies to the clearing. "Now stop calling me 'Master', please."

"But of course, Master," she chirped again, curtseying appropriately. "I am here to follow all of Master's orders and attend to all of master's needs! If there is anything Master needs, he need only tell me and I shall provide!" The maid stopped, and then started blushing. "Oh no! All of Master's needs! What if he orders me to do something…." She trailed off, and started 'kyaa'ing while wiggling back and forth in place with both hands on her red cheeks.

I sighed and ignored the by now very familiar sight. It had started about a week after my return from Albion and my knighting. Apparently now that I was considered a noble, Henrietta had passed down a request to the headmaster of the academy that I be provided a personal maid as an attendant as some kind of accessory to my recently acquired status. Unsurprisingly enough, Siesta had jumped on the new job. Actually, from the stories that I had heard from some of the other staff, there had been many among the cleaning staff who had tried to get the appointment. At least there had been, until Siesta had, and this is only according to rumor, triumphed over all of them in single combat with a weapon of great darkness and horror. After hearing the rumor, I promptly set about trying to forget about it. There are some things which one is just better off not knowing the truth of.

Siesta had taken to her new task with great enthusiasm. After a brief period of turmoil, with her trying to take over all my chores and myself reluctantly surrendering them one by one, things had eventually settled themselves down into a working compromise. She could have the cleaning and the laundry, but the evening tea remained mine, along with occasional cooking as well.

"Do you have the wake up material ready?" I asked her, lowering Louise gently so that she rested against a rock.

"Yes, right here," Siesta assured me, handing me a bucket of water before bustling over to a bundle of clothes and towels that rested nearby. With a nod of thanks, I promptly upended the pail of cold water all over my little Master.

"Ah! C-c-c-cold!" Louise sputtered, waking up from her enforced slumber while swinging her arms about wildly before realizing where she was. Rubbing her eyes, she sneezed, and began plucking at the now soaking wet garments on her. "Did I lose again?" she asked, glancing around the clearing in confusion.

"Yes," I told her, and then grabbed a second pail before bending over and upending it on my head as well. The water wasn't just there for the pleasure of the winner to use on the loser. It also served as a chance for both parties to at least make token efforts at getting themselves cleaned up as well. Our training usually took place immediately after classes came to an end; it was the only time we could both work them in properly. Since the two of us would both have social obligations afterwards and most likely not enough time for a bath, we had ended up having to make do with this imperfect method of not stinking up any room we walked into with our sweat.

"It's just not fair," Louise muttered, crossing her arms and puffing her cheeks up in a pout before grimacing and moving her arms away from where they made her shirt stick to her wet skin. "You must be cheating to be able to throw a sword that well."

"You should see how well I can do when shooting one from a bow," I retorted. With a sniff, Louise finally stood up from where I had put her, and began undressing. The water would do for getting the worst of the sweat off her, but we discovered that simply having a change of clothes for her doubled the effectiveness. Even out here in the middle of the forest Louise made no effort to try and preserve her modesty. The only ones here were Siesta, her handmaiden and now my personal maid, and myself, her Servant who had already seen her in every state of dress she could imagine; Louise just didn't see any reason for paying attention to either of us when it came to how much she was wearing. Even as the pink haired noble girl was removing her clothes, Siesta was already dutifully assisting her in her toweling, taking sopping wet articles and laying them down gently on the rock Louise had been leaning against a moment ago while Louise took the offered towel and began to strip the worst of the water and sweat off herself.

I ignored her nakedness in the same way. For all that I've become fond of my little Master, it didn't change the fact that she was my Master. I still saw no reason for her to get worked up over being in the presence of a weapon while changing. Instead, I took advantage of Siesta's distraction to turn my back on the two and take off my own shirt instead. With my new annual stipend I had finally managed to start stocking up my own wardrobe to the point where I had several changes of outfits to use. Most of them were simply more of my black sleeveless shirts and pants, but Louise had insisted I get some formal wear too. And I would have as well, if it wasn't for the fact that formal wear here seemed designed to be as restrictive and elaborate as possible. I decided to just save the money and if I ever needed to be formally clad I'd just wear my cloak properly instead.

"Do you need any assistance, Master?" a voice near my elbow nearly made me simultaneously sigh in resignation and jump in surprise. I glanced behind me and saw that sure enough Louise was now standing by herself and Siesta was now hovering way to close to me and trying to towel me down personally. Louise was rubbing her head in frustration, looking at the trail of her clothes that Siesta had left behind in her rush to abandon the pink haired girl's attendance and come to mine instead.

"No, I think I can handle it myself," I assured the maid who wasn't even making the effort to pretend like she was paying attention to my orders and was instead shamelessly ogling my bare torso instead.

"Oh, but I must!" Siesta declared passionately. "This is what maids always do for their lords, Master!"

"Siesta," Louise ground out, following the trail of clothes over to where the two of us were, putting on each article as she came to them. It made for an amusing transition, as Siesta had abandoned her clothes in an order that wasn't the same as Louise was supposed to put them on. "I know that you've never been a maid for anywhere but the academy, but that isn't what maids are expected to do for their lords at all." She sounded petulant, no doubt wanting to scold Siesta for having left her half naked across the clearing and forcing her to get dressed in such an undignified way, but also knowing the scolding would never stick. Since Siesta's appointment as my personal servant, the maid had instantly resorted all her previous obligations to being secondary to mine.

As Louise drew closer, I noticed her eyes were also on my torso, same as Siesta's. The difference was on what part of the torso the two girls were looking at. Siesta seemed content to let her gaze shift over the muscles a life of swinging a sword had left me with. Louise focused instead on the scars that a life of swinging a sword had left me with. As my Master's gaze settled on the red line that settled directly in the center of my chest, one of my oldest and paradoxically least faded scars, I glanced away in discomfort. Shaking my maid off me gently, I pulled on a new shirt, concealing the telling marks that crisscrossed my body.

"How about some tea then?" I suggested, mostly to change the subject. Siesta, who had looked sad when I had covered myself, resumed a happy expression and flounced off to start pouring cups from the kettle. Waiting till she was out of hearing, I whispered to Louise. "Let me guess. The whole 'wiping off your lord' thing: from that damn book again?" Louise sighed, and resumed rubbing her forehead in frustration.

Siesta had long ago told me that her favorite book was A Country Maid in the Hall of the Duke. After the first few times she had disappeared into her happy imaginary land after she had started working for me, I had finally broken down and read the Root be damned thing if only so I could avoid accidently setting the happy maid off.

Consequentially, a great number of things have been added to my 'list of things Siesta is not allowed to have around her in order to protect my sanity'. Featured primarily on that list is alcohol, but it also included broomsticks in numbers more than two, leather belts containing any kind of studding, any kind of whip of crop used for the herding of livestock, and any length of silk cloth larger than a medium sized bed sheet.

I also resolved to someday track down the filthy mind responsible for having spawned such a lurid tale of debauchery, and feed them to Louise's knitting.

For the sake of the world.

*Scene Break*

"So has there been any word from Henrietta yet?" I asked Louise as Siesta set about pouring cups of tea for me, my Master, my sword, and herself.

"About?" Louise asked, scrunching up her nose as she continued rubbing a towel over her damp hair. Though she was fully dressed, she was still in a state of dishevelment that she would never willingly show anyone outside of this clearing, save perhaps for Cattleya. Her blouse was untucked, and buttoned only a few times in the middle, leaving the chemise she wore underneath exposed above and below where her shirt was closed. Her hair was a rumpled mess, and her thigh high stockings were pulled barely to knee length. She hadn't even bothered to put on her cloak yet. With half her face still covered by hair and towel, she reached down with one hand to pick up her freshly poured tea, sipping it.

"About the rumors we were trying to start," I clarified. She had a point, Henrietta had any number of reasons to contact Louise. In fact, I think the two of them had generally increased their correspondences recently. I leaned back in my chair, my own state nearly as disheveled as Louise's. I had abandoned my arm coverings and cloak for the moment, and had a towel draped over my own still semi wet hair myself.

Siesta, who was the only person here who was anywhere near their normal presentable state, pursed her lips in a cute little scowl of displeasure at the conversation topic.

It was a week further after Siesta had come to be my personal servant that the plan that Henrietta, Agnes, and myself had put together was carried out. We had needed something subtle, something a little less obviously staged then me just showing up at court one day, throwing Henrietta over my shoulder, and carrying her to the bedroom for a few hours. Something as obvious as that would be almost glaringly a negative for Henrietta's reputation.

Instead, the plan had been much slyer. A few days after the official announcement of the formation of the order of the Knights of Undine, Henrietta had taken a brief trip to a nearby manor for some minor reasons. On the way back, she had swung by the academy, where she was met up with the Undine Knights as scheduled so that we could escort her back to the castle as a sort of honor guard. In the end it served as more of a dog and pony show, a way to officially introduce the new order of knights to the population in general.

Guiche had accepted the nomination with a little bit of confusion and a great deal of pomp, with myself officially taking a position as vice-captain. Recruitment had come within the school, mostly from other veteran students from the Albion campaign, but with a few of the other students joining as well. The escort itself had been carefully rehearsed, with all the students drilling where they were to ride for hours ahead of time.

Guiche was in his element when the group finally made it back to the city proper. Just like we had predicted, he had been an instant hit. A good looking and war decorated young noble from a prestigious family, one with his experience acting the ham for a crowd, was an example of exactly what the populace had come to love. Many of the other students were similarly well received. Gimli the big fellow who I had met upon my return to the academy, the one who looked more like a soldier then a noble in the first place, was an instant hit with the crowd in particular. Even the one fat kid I had seen a few times around, a dot level wind mage by the name of Malicorne, had his chance to receive cheers from the crowd.

I was the only one there the crowd wasn't too sure about. I must have looked very out of place, due to my size, my older age, the style I wore my cloak, and the fact that I wore a sword instead of a wand.

This was where Louise got her first practical experience with manipulating public opinion. She hadn't had much to do with the planning, but she had been integral to how I was received. The day before hand she had left to go visit the Charming Faerie Inn, spending a day chatting with Scarron, Jessica, and the rest of the girls there. In passing, it was mentioned about how I was going to be part of the guard today, and about the part I had played in the withdrawal from Albion. Word of the King of Swords had arrived in these parts by now, and rumors were flying high about it. The thing was that no one knew who the King of Swords really was. Scarron, Jessica, and the girls had all been on the last boat out, and had all known that I had stayed behind. They just couldn't be sure that I was really the one who the stories were talking about.

Until Louise confirmed it for them that is.

So it wasn't until Scarron, in all his eye catching glory, had pronounced precisely who the lanky foreigner with the sword was to the crowd, no one had known just who it was they were looking at. And just in case that hadn't been enough, it was on the road, in full view of the public that Henrietta called me to her carriage, slipped one white gloved hand out the window, and allowed me to kiss it for all to see. That was the last bit that everyone needed to confirm the suspicions of the populace.

And it was here that we started the root for the next rumor we were trying to spread.

It wasn't blatant, the way I lingered over the hand that had been presented to me, nor was it completely obvious the way her fingers traced my cheek slightly, but a few people noticed. One of those persons was Jessica.

Later that night, while the rest of the Undine Knights had been sent home, but I was invited to rest at the castle till the next day, Jessica confronted Louise about what she had seen. Expecting this, Louise did as I had coached her: she first vehemently denied it, loudly and at great length, and then refused to talk about it to anyone else. Naturally, Jessica instantly saw this as all the confirmation she needed, and the rumors began to circulate. Drunk customers would hear it from first Jessica, and then from the rest of the serving staff as they picked up on the rumor of 'too much for any one woman' Shirou Emiya and Queen Henrietta. The next day they began to talk about it at their jobs and to their friends and coworkers. That alone wouldn't have been enough for it to really spread.

The next evening, after Louise and I had both returned to the academy, the Commander of the Musketeers, the personal guard of Queen Henrietta herself, Chevaliar Agnes was seen getting drunk at common watering hole of hers. Agnes, supposedly deep in her cup had let slip the fact that I had stayed the night at the castle. When pressed on it, she had shut up completely, refusing to say anything on the subject, or anything else at all, and quickly left. Now the rumor began to spread from two sources.

And when a person would hear it once, and then hear it again, from the friend of a friend of a friend in both cases, what would have died over completely quickly began to be accepted as general fact.

In actuality, the night I had stayed over had been spent with both Henrietta and Agnes discussing last minute changes to the plan. One of those had been Siesta herself. Now that I had a personal attendant, it was natural to believe that someone would try and get the truth of the rumors out of her eventually. Siesta was loyal to me, and if word got out that me and the queen were together, Siesta would instantly know it was false and try to defend my honor by denying it. People who knew her would be willing to believe her, and then conflicting rumors about the truth of the new supposed 'publicly accepted truth' might be compromised. Because of that, Siesta was given limited knowledge of the situation the day Louise and I returned to the academy, the same night Agnes was starting her share of the plan.

Siesta hadn't been happy about it originally, but had caved when Louise had slyly, in a moment of genius, pointed out that if people thought I was sleeping with the queen, they'd be less likely to try and seduce me, leaving me more open to Siesta later.

Siesta still hadn't been happy about it, but that had been enough to get her on board. Three days later, when one of the other maids had approached her and asked her about whether or not it was true that Henrietta and I were doing indecent and amoral things together, Siesta had clamped up tight, and ran out of the room instantly.

That had been enough to convince every maid that knew about how sweet Siesta was on me that yes, Henrietta and I really were an item. It had spread to the rest of the school quickly enough from there.

"Yes," Louise answered my original question about whether or not Henrietta had contacted her. "It seems that it's been working pretty well." Louise blushed and scowled. My little Master hadn't believed that it would be so simple to convince an entire country of something that was so preposterous. She hadn't believed that it would be so easy either. Needless to say to having been proven wrong on both accounts had been a serious blow to her belief that I had originally been exaggerating about how irritating politics truly were. "In her last message she said that she had been approached by her Chief Advisor, Cardinal Mazarin, about the wisdom of involving herself with a Chevalier, and one that was only recently anointed at that. Her Majesty said that if even he had been fooled, then the deception would hold."

"Well, that's good," I murmured, sipping my tea. "Now I just have to worry about the fallout."

Louise smiled at that. I suppressed a wince. It was a strange smile she was giving me, something about it was just unnerving. It had too many teeth, and her eyes were a little to amused when she gave it. It reminded me of something, or of someone, but I couldn't quite put my finger on just what. "Ah," she cooed at me, still looking amused. "Is the big bad Servant getting tired of all the pressures of being a noble?"

"Laugh it up, Master," I muttered without any real heat. "Another one came yesterday."

"Oh?" Louise taunted me, enjoying my discomfort. "Another what? Another duel for the queen's honor? Another challenge for the King of Swords? Another invitation from one of your adoring fans?"

I had to be thankful for this much at least. Louise was definitely coming out of the shell that her upbringing had stuck her into, and that I had unwittingly helped close around her. She had always been one to try and act as strictly proper as required by the situation. It seemed that she had recently discovered the joy of lighthearted teasing. Though it was a promising development, one that led away from her following the path that led to her becoming a copy of me, it had disturbing side effects. Not the least of which was that smile of hers, the one she only saved for the direst of teasing. The one she was wearing right now. It was almost in the category of 'Tohsaka Rin Scary Smiles', but it wasn't quite there yet. I crossed my fingers and prayed to the Root that I wasn't witnessing the birth of the 'Louise Valliere Scary Smile', but I feared it was a prayer destined to be ignored.

"Another letter from your mother asking me about my marriage prospects," I told the pink haired girl, and her smile froze on her face, her entire body going rigid instantly. "She's mentioned that while my 'current liaison' might be a tempting situation for a young man of my stature that I shouldn't disregard the options available to me if I ever sought a more 'reputable union'."

"Ahhhh," Louise vocalized, twitching slightly. She shuddered briefly. "She's moved on to offering Eleanor, hasn't she," Louise whimpered, not even bothering to cast the phrase as a question.

"Yes," I nodded, my voice dry. "Yes she has. Which is why I would like to strongly suggest that as soon as you graduate from the academy we leave the country for a while."

"Ah! Is Master going traveling then?" Siesta chirped in. She sounded happy at the idea that I was planning to put some distance between myself and both Henrietta's politics and Karin's proposals.

"It might be a good idea to drop by Albion and see how the reconstruction is going," Louise muttered glancing to the side and gnawing on her lip in thought. "We could also visit Tiffania and see how the orphanage is doing."

"I was thinking maybe heading south, towards Romalia," I suggested, sipping my tea as I put the idea out there. "I heard that there are a good number of frontier towns in those parts that have lots of problems with orcs and trolls. It might be a nice way to relax for a bit."

Louise sighed. "Only you would think that a campaign of genocide would be relaxing," she muttered briefly, but with a thoughtful look on her face. "It might be nice to not have to worry about politics and conspiracies for a bit," she finally admitted. My Master had been holding up rather well under stress that a girl her age shouldn't have to deal with, but there's only so much political intrigue and vague shadowy threats of other void users that a girl her age should have to handle. She glanced at me, her expression earnest. "Do you think that we would be able to get away without endangering Queen Henrietta?" However much Louise liked the thought of a vacation, she was still a loyalist at heart.

"Maybe," I admitted scratching at my drying hair briefly. "As long as no one can confirm where we are, then we can still be effective as a threat. It's not our actual presence that's being used as a deterrent; it's the threat of our presence. If they can't confirm where we are, then we could potentially be anywhere. If Henrietta just keeps deploying and redeploying the Undine Knights, than she could keep observers confused about our actual location long enough for your mother to cool down a bit."

"Deploying and redeploying?" Louise asked, and then bit her lip, holding up one of her hands to keep me from responding. Taking a sip of her tea, her eyes closed, scrunching up tight as she puckered her lips in thought. "Because if the knights are spread all over the place, then no one can be sure which group you're actually with?" she finally ventured, trying her hand at interpreting the rules of politics I'd been trying to impart to her in our sessions.

"Precisely," I nodded. With the Undine Knights moving all over her country, and with me potentially being in any group of them, then there was no way of knowing precisely where I was, and just what I could be getting up to. Even if someone managed to figure out that I wasn't with any of the knights themselves, that would just unnerve them even more because then I could hypothetically be anywhere. It wouldn't last forever, and eventually someone was going to try something anyway, but that was inevitable. I only had one big battle to my title at the moment, and just because everyone in Albion was too scared of me to risk doing something stupid, didn't mean everyone in Tristain was as well.

It would probably take me at least three more unbelievable acts before I cemented that kind of reputation here on the mainland. Probably three more after that till it spread to Germania and the other countries as well.

"Do you think that the knights will be enough on their own, Master?" Siesta spoke up. The maid had been a regular participant in many of the strategy sessions and politic lessons that I had been giving Louise each night and as a consequence had reached the point where she was beginning to get her own level of understanding of what was going on. It seemed Louise wasn't the only one who I was in danger of corrupting.

I grimaced in response to her question. "Well…" I hedged.

*Scene Break*

"Sir Emiya," Guiche started, swinging one of his modified blades at my head. I dodged quickly to the side, and then extended the dodge into a roll when one of his newer valkyries continued the attempt to kill me. "I was hoping I could ask you for some advice."

"What is it, Guiche?" I asked him, darting past the improved valkyrie and trying to close in on the blonds otherwise unprotected back. The new young commander was still experimenting on whether it was more effective or less to use his newfound line class ability to upgrade the functionality of his valkyries by promoting them from bronze to another more durable metal. His current attempt was at making primarily tin golems, while beginning to work in quantities of iron to the mix. Sadly, so far he hadn't found the right mixture for him to proclaim his new steel valkyries as a success. On the other hand, with his increase in skill at dot spells, he had raised the number of bronze valkyries he could both raise and empower, and thus it had fallen to me to try and help him test his new skills in potential combat situations.

I was enjoying the opportunity to see how far my student had come, as well as taking advantage of it to continue my training against mages in live fire conditions.

"It's about my captaincy," the blond admitted. I could see him struggling with the urge to wax poetic for a moment, and then visually suppressed it so he could instead concentrate on the fight. "When I first accepted it, I thought it would be a fine opportunity for me to organize an order just as powerful and respected as the Dragon or Griffin Knights." When I was less than half a dozen feet away I was forced to dodge sideways as one of his valkyries moved instinctively to hamper my attack at his back. Even as I corrected my path and continued to close, he was already turning swiping his sword in a practiced move aimed at gutting me. He had used to like to aim for the head and neck, but had discovered that swinging too high made it easy for an attacker to doge low. It had taken him a while to lose the mentality that every strike had to be a fatal one, and that sometime a two step kill was perfectly acceptable.

"But…" I prompted him, blocking the strike with my wooden sword enough to raise it high enough for me to slip under it at the cost of shattering my blade. Even as the splinters dissolved into the magical components they had been formed of, I traced two more in my hand, and delivered two fast punishing strikes to Guiche's torso before sliding past him, leaping to avoid the valkyries attempt at avenging the damage I did to their master.

Guiche let loose an 'oof' at the strike, but then shrugged them off. Another side effect of the brutal training I had put him through that I hadn't informed him of yet. After having been beaten repeatedly over and over again by me his body was slowly becoming used to the blows. It was partially just a matter of him being accustomed to pain, and being able to work through it, and partially the fact that the nerve endings in his body at his most sensitive points were simply becoming hardened and less sensitive. It was a process many martial artists and military in my home world underwent called 'body hardening'. Typically they chose to train specific parts of them to be less sensitive, most often parts used for blocking blows like forearms and shins, but also parts that were just naturally sensitive like the upper thighs around the groin and the torso around the liver and kidneys. By this point Guiche had reached the point where he could probably shrug off most less debilitating regions I could strike at. In order for me to win I'd have to either overwhelm his new insensitivity, or score a knock out strike.

"But…" Guiche picked up as tracked my movements and then attempted to close in on me for sword play. He hadn't reached the point where he could actually cut me in a sword fight, but he had reached the point where he could block or weather my strikes appropriately, and seemed to have made it a personal goal of his to one day draw my blood. If he ever did, then I would officially graduate him to the point where I got to use a sword back on him. "…I have discovered that I don't have the first idea just how to train an order of knights," the blond swordsman admitted, sounding embarrassed at his confession. He struck down hard, using the superior weight at the tip of his sword to increase the power of his swing, shattering the wooden blade I had used to deflect again. A proper wooden sword would probably have been able to withstand that blow, but tracing was never quite as powerful as the original. That carried over to me losing a lot of weapons in these matches. "Do you have any advice?" he asked me, sounding plaintive as I he narrowly dodged the straightforward stab that would have ended the battle by impacting his forehead.

"Hmmm," I hummed, dodging his counterstrike. "Well, I've never done anything like that myself. You already know how I prefer to train." Guiche sighed, and continued the combination he was attempting to use on me, one of his own personal ones still in development. It showed potential, but still had weakness, which I exploited specifically so that he'd be made aware of them. "However, I do know two captains personally." Agnes and Karin were both successful leaders of similar orders. Guiche brightened up, then huffed as I once more buried both my blades into his stomach, slipping by him again. He still had the tendency to plant himself firmly, something that I discovered was even more entrenched in his psych as an earth mage than if he had used another element. I was trying to get him to either break the habit or develop counter techniques for someone trying to exploit it. "Problem is, I'm not sure how helpful they'll be for you."

"Why's that, Sir Emiya?" he asked, still short on breath but fighting through it anyway. Once more I was forced to contend with his valkyries. If I was using a proper blade, then I could have shattered them easily, but with nothing but a stick in my hand I was forced instead to dodge and escape.

"Well," I admit, and then paused as I rolled further away, extending the maneuver as bronze female statue after bronze female statue continued to cut down on me. "Agnes would probably refuse flat out. She takes her own appointment pretty seriously, and doesn't like having to deal with either kids or mages." Guiche raised both eyebrows, disappointed at the proclamation, but interested in the casual way I dropped the name of the Captain of the Musketeer Squad and personal guardian of the queen. He began to gain a lecherous smile as he started to make assumptions about just why it was I was on good terms with the queen's personal guard. Guiche's hero worship had made him an instant believer in the rumors that were circulating about Henrietta and I. "And as for the other," I shuddered, and the motion nearly made me miss a critical block, "well, I doubt you'd be able to keep up with anything Karin would recommend."

Guiche closed in, having caught my near miss and deciding to try his best to capitalize on it. Even if he didn't know the particulars of my enhancement skills, he did know that if I wasn't using them I was nowhere near the unstoppable killing machine I was without them. He was most likely counting on me being tired. He was probably right. This was the second intense workout I had today, the first being no more than an hour ago with Louise. "And who is this Karin? What squad does she command?" He swung his sword ruthlessly, chopping with all the dedication and skill he had acquired in these sessions.

Tracing sword after sword, each one only lasting for a single block before being destroyed under the assault, I answered. "Oh, she was the captain of the Manticore Squad a few decades back. You know, Karin the 'Heavy Wind'."

Guiche continued swinging, not having caught what I said for a moment, and then dropped his sword mid-swing in order to gape at me. "You know Karin the 'Heavy Wind'!" he gasped, forgetting what he was doing in surprise at the proclamation. With a sigh at his distraction, I reached out and rapped him not so gently on the forehead to remind him that we were supposed to be fighting still. He didn't even notice.

"We met once," I told him. "She's happy in her retirement, and not willing to come back to duty, but she's still every bit as tough as she was back then. She might, and this is just a maybe, be willing to share some tips with me if I asked, but I doubt they'd be too helpful." I looked away nervously. "And I'm pretty sure I wouldn't like what she asked in return."

"What was she like?" was the only thing Guiche could manage to get out, his eyes wide and shining with admiration for someone that wasn't me for once. Despite myself, I couldn't suppress a grin of fondness at the memory.

"Like everything the stories say she is, and more so," I told him honestly. Then I slapped him upside the head again with the stick still in my hand. "Now, focus Guiche." He blinked, and seemed to remember what we were talking about. "Have you tried asking your family for help?"

"Help with what?" he asked, apparently having trouble recalling exactly what we had been talking about. He accepted a towel from a student with a brown cloak that was staring at him with wide adoring eyes and began patting himself down.

"With organizing the order," I reminded him patiently, accepting my own towel from Siesta as she appeared as though by magic at my arm as well. "Your family is thick in the military, isn't it? They should be able to give you some advice."

"Ah," Guiche admitted, apparently not having thought of something so simple. Now that the fight was officially over, he let himself get back into his dramatic role, and struck a pose, his rose wand once more at his forehead. "Yes, that could work. It would take some time however," he continued, and took a glass of water from another girl in a brown cloak that had appeared next to the girl with the towel. The two first year students began alternating glares at each other between sighing stares at the blond noble. "But could you recommend anything in the meantime?"

I accepted my own water skin from Siesta, who had seen another girl, this time one in a black cloak of a second year, attempting to bring me a cup as well and moved instantly to knock her out of the way, seemingly by accident as the maid continued her service of me. "Well," I began dryly, "the first thing that comes to mind is that you kick out everyone who is only in the order to improve their love life."

Guiche followed my gaze, and then let loose his patented dramatic sigh again. Officially, the Knights of the Undine were gathering in the courtyard outside the hanger for the Zero fighter and near Professor Colbert's little laboratory in order to drill and train for their duties. This particular courtyard was a bit out of the way from the rest of the castle, which was the reason Colbert had been relocated to this area for his experiments; his experiments tended to have either explosions, funny smells, or explosions of funny smells with disturbing regularity. Ostensibly we were using this courtyard in particular in order to spare the rest of the students from having to see our grueling and terrifying training.

In reality, these training sessions had quickly dissolved into a chance for the young men who joined the order to act like pigs and party. When word had reached the academy at large that an order of knights was being formed that would be in direct service to the queen, and have both a well decorated war veteran leading them, as well as a recognized war hero in it as well, the population had reacted in two ways. The boys had all tried to join up so that they could either get the chance to rub shoulders with Guiche and I or so they could use some of that fame to make themselves more popular. The girls had reacted in a more emotional way, and many of them were currently either idolizing or fantasizing a number of the more prominent members of the order.

It was more than a little disappointing to me, for both genders. The idea that many of these boys had joined what was supposed to be a combat force in the service of their sovereign for nothing more than the chance to act like big shots without lifting a finger to try and improve themselves was both irritating to me personally and insulting to the sacrifices of those who actually lived their lives for combat. Strangely enough, I was just as disappointed with the females in this matter. I suppose I had been spoiled by spending so much time in this world surrounded by women who had so much steel in them like Louise, Agnes, Henrietta, Karin, and even Tabitha and Kirche. Kirche might have different priorities then myself and the others, but the single minded way she dedicated herself to her chosen path and strived with all her heart to attaining her goals qualified as being praiseworthy in my book.

I just wish her goals didn't involve Professor Colbert and I.

"Ah," Guiche sighed, handing the towel to another girl in a brown cloak, who clutched it tightly to her chest with a sigh as the other two first year students glared at the supposedly lucky one. "Is that really necessary?" he asked, sounding nervous. "Many of them are both my personal friends, and friends of my family. They might take it less than well if I were to do such a thing?"

"Tough," I told him flat out. "You have to decide if you want this order to be a combat one or a political one. If you're just planning on leading it to be some kind of repository for rich sons to keep them out of combat, then you're doing fine as it is. If you want them to be an actual fighting force, then you need to stop being their friend, and start being their commander."

"Is it not possible for me to be both?" Guiche asked, knitting his eyebrows together. All three of the girls seemed to think that expression somehow increased his handsomeness or something because they let out three simultaneous dreamy sighs. "I have known many of them for years, and it seems such a shame for me to abandon that camaraderie just for the sake of a title."

That actually made his hesitancy into something a little more understandable than just him not wanting to ruin his reputation by accidently offending someone. I glanced around the assembled group of young men. Most of them were busy flirting and drinking wine. They seemed a little young to be so openly drinking by my standards, but I reminded myself that this was for all purposes a medieval society. They didn't exactly have options for clean water, and the alcohol that they mixed with their standard drinking water was more for the purpose of killing any germs or bacteria in what they were drinking. They'd probably had access to wine and beer since they were able to walk. That made it a little too easy for them to get ahold of it when they wanted to the alcohol for recreational purposes, as trying to restrict them from getting a hold of something so common was just impractical.

Whatever the reason behind the circumstances, it didn't change the fact that the so called 'Undine training sessions' were turning into nothing more than an after school boys club for drinking and making up stories of their own awesome combat prowess. Gimli, the well muscled noble I had taken note of before was surrounded by a small horde of fluttery eyed girls, and was currently half way through his first skin of wine and telling his followers about the time he single handedly wrestled an Albion Dragon Knight into submission, dragon included. Beside him another recruit, a slimmer boy who I vaguely recalled as being named 'Reynald' whom had never even been a part of the campaign in Albion was talking about how he had fended off a marauding platoon of orcs that had attacked a group of what I was assuming was starving orphan puppies during the retreat. Even Malicorne, a slightly chubby and rather high pitched voiced lad whom I had seen get picked on a few times in the past for his size, had a girl one each arm as he weaved a story about what had happened during his time in the air force.

Actually, judging from the tale he was telling it sounded like he was actually being honest about his adventure, which put him a step up above most of the rest of the little fibbers.

Turning back to Guiche I shrugged. "I don't know. My first inclination is that you should first earn their respect by beating them all in single combat simultaneously, and then earn their loyalty through participating in back breaking training." The three girls behind the blond all got wide gooey eyes as they apparently imagined the scenario I was describing. I was torn in whether or not I found their gazes disturbing. I know Root be damned well just how deviant some of the women in this world could be, but then again, that was mostly the commoners that I've noticed that trend in. Louise had been a typical noble and seemed pretty repressed originally. At least until Siesta had started corrupting her.

Guiche just gave me a withering look that proved just how far he had come from the boy whom hadn't been able to been in the same room when my name was being spoken after I had nearly killed him in a petty duel. "Not everyone is capable of defeating numerous magic wielding opponents in single combat like yourself, Sir Emiya," he pointed out. The two of us began walking towards a quieter section of the courtyard, both of us shunning the louder and raunchier crowd.

"You could probably take most of them in a one on one sword fight," I pointed out. "Start there. Have them all line up, put them into pairs, and have them start hitting each other as hard as they can. You can work your way around to each of them one by one, and it would actually count as training."

"Swords?" the blond grimaced. "You know well yourself, Sir Emiya, that most nobles consider such things beneath them." There was a certain stigmata among nobles whom considered the ability to wave a piece of sharpened metal around to cut someone to be less refined then waving a stick and setting them on fire. Guiche himself got away with a certain amount of leniency due to the fact that as an earth mage metal work was a perfectly respectable trade to get into.

"What about those sword wands I've seen people use before? Like Wardes?" I pointed out. Guiche actually froze at that, recalling the weapons that a number of the higher order combatants I'd seen in this world wield.

"That," he murmured, thinking it over, "that is very true, isn't it?" The three girls cooed at him again, having apparently followed us while still making no effort to do anything but worship their crush silently. I had a feeling there might have been even more if Siesta hadn't been playing defensive action throughout the conversation. I should double whatever it was she was getting paid.

"So start there. That should cover at least a bit of the training." I paused, scratching my chin idly as I searched for something else. "Well, that should cover the physical part anyway. I have no idea what you should do for the magic. I'm absolutely useless when it comes to this lands spell work, and I don't think you have any experience with any element besides earth."

"Ah," and here Guiche posed again, this time more boisterously as he apparently liked the way this conversation was going. "In that case I have a few ideas that might be useful." Then he assumed a more somber dramatic pose. "I just wish that the other members would show initiative of their own when it came to training, and spend less time womanizing and reveling." The three girls behind him sighed dreamily again, and I raised an eyebrow, surprised that I would ever hear Guiche talking about restraint when it came to the female gender.

"I'm rather surprised you haven't been taking advantage of it," I admitted, my eyes running over his three fangirls idly. So far Guiche hadn't even made a single flirtatious move at any of them, despite the fact that all three were reasonably attractive.

"Why?" Guiche asked, sounding honestly surprised. "Things have been going so well with Montmorency lately, and I don't think I want to spoil that."

Behind him the three girls froze simultaneously.

"Really?" I asked, uncertain about whether this was a true declaration, or just Guiche paying lip service to what he was supposed to say.

"Yes," he sighed happily, and got his own misty eyed gooey face as he apparently thought back to something good for him. "Though I had said it many times before, I think that I can now say it honestly that I think Montmorency might be the only one for me."

The three frozen girls all emitted a synchronized cracking noise as their hopes shattered.

I was honestly impressed by the progress the now apparently rehabilitated lothario had made. Still, I had to ask. "You haven't eaten or drank anything made by her recently, have you?" I asked suspiciously.

Guiche gave me a look that seemed to imply 'do you really think I'm that stupid?' That's a relief. I wasn't certain I was willing to try and get more Tears of the Water Spirit if he had. Once had been enough, and besides, I still haven't recovered that Root be damned ring yet.

*Scene Break*

"Vice Captain, sir!" a cheerful voice behind me caused me to look over my shoulder. I had just left the kitchen, where I had been talking to the chef. When I had returned to the academy there had been some friction between me and a few of the serving staff that I used to get along with well. My change in status had made many of them certain that my attitude would undergo a similar metamorphosis. Most of them had been reassured by my willingness to continue helping out around the academy as a sign that I was their friend. The chef had been harder to convince. I don't know what happened in the past, but that man had serious beef with the nobles as a whole.

He had forgiven me nearly instantly when I pointed out that I could now kill nobles legally. He had gone so far as to offer to supply me with a list of ones who really deserved it.

"Sir, come with me!" the young man who had spoken up continued. It looked like it was the boy I had noticed earlier, Reynald. "The rest of the men have decided to show you something good!"

"Oh?" I asked, surprised at the suddenness of the invitation. Had the other members of the order decided to arrange another party and try to invite me again? This had happened a few times already, and it mostly consisted of half the crowd trying to get me to tell stories of battles past, and the other half trying to top them with their imagination. I had proven to be an uninteresting story teller, usually keeping my stories simple with lines like 'then someone came, and I stabbed them' and 'after I cut off their heads, I went home'. It was a far cry from their own verbose narratives, and they quickly got bored with them. "And what would this something good be?" I asked the young man as he led me into the night.

"The rest of the boys and I had noticed that you and Guiche seemed really serious for the last few days," Reynald explained as he led me, sounding very excited about something. "We were worried that the two of you might have felt left out, seeing as you're always off by yourselves playing around."

"Playing around?" I asked, unsure of what he was talking about.

Reynald laughed. "It's just that the two of you are always staging those fake fights of yours! We were worried that the two of you were just too shy to join the rest of us. So we all decided to do something that that would help the two of you fit in better."

Seriously? The Undine Knights as a whole apparently were assuming that when Guiche and I were practicing, we were actually faking? Well, yes, I admit that some of them might have trouble thinking that a mage like Guiche would use so much potentially lethal hardware in a practice session, and probably even more trouble admitting that a swordsman using nothing but a stick might actually be able to win in a fight like that. But seriously? Was that why none of them were taking the order seriously as a whole?

As I contemplated this strange revelation, the excited young man led me to a large hole sticking predominantly out of the middle of the courtyard where we usually met up. I refrained from expressing my opinion on the conclusion Reynald and the others seemed to have come to for the moment as the boy dutifully led me to wherever this 'something good' was. There would be time to remedy this erroneous belief tomorrow. I think I might suggest to Guiche that maybe a demonstration was in order to show just how faked are practice was. Maybe the two of us against the entire order, no holds barred? There should be enough water mages at the academy that no one would die, and as long as I focused on impaling rather than dismembering, I'm sure most of them would recover completely.

At the end of the tunnel I found Guiche looking more confused than I was, and most of the order of the Undine Knights pointing at what looked like the foundation of one of the buildings, all of them chanting steadily as they concentrated their efforts at whatever their task was.

"Sir Emiya," Guiche began, looking relieved that I was there. "Do you have any idea what this is about?"

"Well," I began as Reynald hurried to join the rest of the knights as they chanted. "Apparently the rest of the knights felt sad that the two of us had to fake our fights for attention, and so they decided on doing some kind of team building exercise with us along so that we would be more comfortable in the order."

"But Sir Emiya," Guiche protested. "We don't fake our fights."

"I know," I confirmed for him. His eyes narrowed and he crossed his arms in thought as he continued thinking about what I had told him.

"And isn't it my order in the first place?" he continued, deep in thought. "Well, mine and yours, but since I'm the captain, shouldn't I be the one worried about the rest of them instead?" He pointed out as well, his narrowed eyes changing until the expression was less out of confusion and more out of irritation.

"Indeed," I told him. Now Guiche, what are you going to do?

"Sir Emiya," he began, his voice low. "I think it's time for the two of us as Captain and Vice-Captain to do something about the direction this order is taking."

I smiled. Looked like someone had just had their pride damaged. I had warned him long ago that there might come a day, where after he'd shed gallons of blood sweat and tears in order to reach a level of prowess there might come a day when he'd find himself taking pride in that level, that he might start wondering how his strength compares to those around him, and seeking to prove his own.

It looked like little Guiche was finally all grown up.

"Success!" a voice called from the wall where the others were still chanting. He was quickly shushed by the rest of the boys, indicating some kind of need for silence. "Success!" the original boy said again, this time in an apparently acceptably quiet voice, showing the small hole he had managed to drill into the wall for the rest to see.

"And so the mission can continue!" another voice proclaimed, revealing Gimli standing proud and tall in the crowd of other students. Turning to us, he grinned. "And who better to enjoy the completion of our first successful operation then our commander and vice-captain?" he cajoled the rest of the group, and they all gave quiet cheers and laughs.

Guiche and I exchanged a glance, and the blond nervously indicated that I should take the first look. Apparently the talk of mission and operation had made him wonder at the danger level of what his fellow schoolboys had been getting into. I couldn't help but wonder myself. Had they found some kind of magical archive or vault? Were they trying to steal some kind of artifact from the school?

Moving carefully, I took a glance.

I stopped, backed away from the hole and rubbed my eyes. I glanced at the rest of the boys, who were all grinning victoriously at me, and then looked back into the hole again.

Finally, I stood up straight and sighed, rubbing my forehead. "Peeping? Your first successful mission as an order of knights is to peek on the girl's bath house?" They couldn't be serious, could they?

As a one, everyone there but myself and Guiche nodded with wide smiles.

Guiche himself looked overcome. He opened his mouth, his face turning red, and the closed it suddenly. Then he opened it again, this time raising a hand to pose, and then just as suddenly stopped again. He put both hands up in the air and began raising and lowering them opposite of each other, his face torn.

Finally, he put both his hands on his forehead and sighed, his face still red. "I don't know what to say," he admitted, sounding as though he was suffering through some kind of horrible personal crisis. "On one hand, it's wrong to do something so distasteful, and completely unbefitting of our noble heritage." The other boys looked nervous at what was obviously not the reaction they were expecting from their friend. Guiche continued, the torment of the decision before him obvious to all of us. "On the other hand, it's the holy land," he whispered, his voice laden with awe. "It's one of my oldest and most treasured dreams." The other boys began to grin. Now that was the response they had obviously been expecting.

"Guiche," I began, finding myself once more being forced to bear the uncomfortable role of moral guidance figure. "You mentioned earlier today about not wanting to spoil things with…"

I was cut off when one of the boys behind me who had apparently been sneaking a peak at the forbidden fruits while the rest of us were distracted suddenly whispered abruptly, "Isn't that Montmorency?"

"Where!" Guiche somehow managed to discover the ability to move fast enough to leave an afterimage and was instantly shoving the unlucky boy out of the way so that he could see his girlfriend in his new favorite suit for her. I sighed. Well, I was surprised it had been a moral dilemma at all. At least the one he was peeking at had actual emotional meaning to him.

Still, it really wasn't any of my business. It was mostly just the harmless fun of a few adolescent males; almost a coming of age rite actually. Tomorrow I would report it to the headmaster, and he'd most likely shut it down. Well, actually, he might end up joining the boys actually. Maybe I should report it to Professor Colbert instead.

I turned to leave the young men to their entertainment, when the next one who looked through spoke up. "Hey, isn't that Louise?"

Okay. Now I have to kill them all.

"Why would we want to look at her?" another one of the boys pointed out. "She's as flat as a board."

Kill them slowly, then.

"No, I mean, she was, but she's not anymore!" the first boy excitedly proclaimed. I blinked in surprise. "I know she's grown a bit height wise, but it looks like that wasn't all that was growing!"

The boy suddenly found himself lifted and put aside gently and I took a second look in.

Huh. How about that. It looks like her height wasn't the only thing I hadn't noticed change during the time I had been her Servant. They weren't by any definition of the word impressive, but if memory served right and Louise really did develop like her elder sister Cattleya, than it looks like another one of Louise's sore points was going to be moot soon. I hadn't even noticed earlier when she was changing after our session.

Still, that didn't change the fact that these boys were intruding on my Master's privacy and trampling on her modesty.

"Well then," I said softly, pulling away from the hole. The group looked at me in anticipation, waiting for my words. Except for Guiche, who had promptly gone back to ogling his girlfriend the moment I had pulled my head away. "It looks like this operation was nearly a complete success."

"Nearly?" Gimli piped up, crossing his bulging arms and looking disapproving at my appraisal.

"Nearly," I confirmed. I smiled happily at them. If Guiche hadn't been so preoccupied, I think he might have had a clue what was about to go down and used the wisdom of experience to start running. "I can't help but feel that it's missing something though," I tapped a finger on my chin, my face wrapped into a puzzled expression. "Well, I'll leave you all to enjoy the fruits of your labor while I try to figure out what this operation was missing."

The other's instantly dismissed me as being paranoid and moved to crowd the hole for their turn. With their attention off me, I made my way to the exit of the tunnel.

Once there, I whispered, "Trace on."

My area of expertise might be weaponry, swords in particular, but if I put my mind to it, I was more than capable of imitating any number of simple objects.

Things like a four foot tall copper gong, and a six pound iron mallet.

"That's what this operation is missing," I said to myself in a cheerful tone. "Casualties." And then I slammed the mallet into the gong hard enough to produce a noise which could wake the dead. As startled cries began to audibly emerge from both the tunnel and the bathhouse, I made my way to find an appropriate place to watch the carnage unfold.

*Scene Break*

I had originally decided that the best place for me to watch the impending slaughter was from the formal dining hall and ballroom. I'd been here once before, during the period directly after the first time I captured Fouquet. It was a wide open area, with balconies that circled the perimeter and hovered over the first floor dancing hall, so I could open one of the highest windows and escape into it. Afterwards, the shadows of the interior would cover me nicely as I stood by the same windows I had just escaped through and watched the Undine Knights scurry like mice trying to escape a fox. Or foxes as the case might be.

I didn't want to be out in the open long enough for any of the rabidly mobilizing forces to discover me, so rather than try to maneuver my way through the courtyard and buildings, I simply reinforced my limbs and leapt to the second story windows directly, perching carefully on the casing before tracing a slim dagger to undo the latch on the inside. I had only just managed to shut the window behind me and back a bit out of sight when the boys started escaping from the tunnel en masse. They had all gotten clear, except for Malicorne who ended up getting stuck and looking quite piteous in the process, when the girls began exiting the bathhouse. The first wave was the girls who had simply shrugged on robes, deeming revenge more important than modesty in their haste. The second wave would no doubt follow after only properly dressing themselves completely.

I had only just had the opportunity to watch the poor boy plugging the hole being treated to the gentle ministrations of an earth mage, a girl by the name of Katie if my memory placed her properly, when a noise behind me made me stiffen and reach for Derflinger as I began to wheel about.

"Shhhh," a voice echoed from the shadows at the foot of one of the stairs. I reinforced my eyes, allowing them to penetrate the darkness in the direction where the voice came from. When my eyes caught sight of the slim shadow partially concealed behind the banister of one of the stare cases they managed to identify an irregular shape sticking out of the darkness. It was a familiar silhouette.

My hand relaxed its grip on the blade. "Tabitha?" I called out softly. My eyes still adjusting to the darkness saw the shape nod its head once. "Tabitha," I repeated, my voice curious. "What are you doing here?"

The small blue haired girl was silent for a moment, and then in true Tabitha fashion she said one word. "Worried."

"Worried?" I repeated, trying to discern her meaning from the brief exchange. "Do you mean you were worried about me so you came to check on me?" I ventured. There were a lot of holes in that theory, but it was the best I could come up with. Surprisingly, the shadow nodded again. I was beginning to make out a bit more of her shape. "But why were you worried about me specifically?" I was forced to ask, trying to figure out the exact nature of her concern.

Again a moment of silence, and then another single word came out. "Warning."

I think I was beginning to pick out what had happened. When the girls had heard the gong, most of them had probably not recognized it, or not been able to figure out precisely what a gong was doing nearby in the first place. This little girl had instead instantly recognized it, identified it as a warning, and then somehow managed to make a guess over who had the ability to have access to such an instrument and the motivation to use it as a warning. I shook my head ruefully. This girl was certainly a pro when it came to summary judgment and snap decisions.

"That's the second time you've come to save me, isn't it?" I asked, fond humor in my voice. The first time when she tried to swoop down with Sylphid after she saw me step off of the eighth story roof on my first night in this world. "You do seem to enjoy coming to my rescue, don't you?" I teased her with a smile.

Silence stretched on for a few moments, and I watched as the campus outside was lit up briefly with a enormous pillar of fire from one side, followed quickly by the windows rattling from an explosion in another location. It seems like Kirche and Louise are enjoying themselves immensely. Finally, Tabitha spoke up, answering my question seriously. "No one else."

"No one else?" I repeated, raising and eye brow as I tried to puzzle out her ambiguous statement. It couldn't mean that she wouldn't save anyone else. I know for a fact that both Kirche and Louise are sheltered under the small blue girl's fiercely protective wing. "Do you mean that no one else would protect me?" I ventured, not sure if that was the conclusion I was supposed to reach. A brief nod from the shadow across the ballroom confirmed my guess.

My smile turned bitter at the conclusion Tabitha had come to. It had been a long time since I'd had someone to rely on for rescuing me. Back when I was still young, and I had comrades who were willing to come to my aid, back before I could pull myself out of whatever mess I found myself in with nothing more than my will and my swords. Nowadays, it seemed that I wasn't the one who needed help anymore. It was always my strength that once added would turn a battle, my skill that would protect someone, save someone in time of need. It looked like the quiet girl had noticed that, and decided that she would take up that role for me.

It would have been funny, if I hadn't known Tabitha was so serious about it.

"And why do volunteer for such a thankless task?" I murmured, my voice soft. Surprisingly, the thought of the girl coming to save me didn't sound nearly as ridiculous as it should. For some reason, I actually felt a little comforted by her decision. For some reason, the thought of someone else looking after me, even if I doubted I would need it, or even was sure if I wanted such a caretaker, was nostalgic.

Maybe I was just a little too used to small over powered female mages hovering over me and pulling my butt out of the fire. Ah Rin, if you could see me now.

"For Sylphid," Tabitha's voice came from the shadows again, answering my question. That one was easier to interpret. She felt an obligation to help me, since I had kept her secret for her it seemed.

I closed my eyes, and my smile turned more crooked then bitter. "That's one favor you owed me. But this is twice you came to my rescue," I reminded her, opening my eyes to focus on the shadow of the blue haired girl again. "It seems the balance is still in your favor. I guess that if you ever need it, I'll just have to come save you some time." The shadow jerked visibly in the darkness, from surprise I think.

"Why?" she whispered, and her voice had a tinge of something besides her usual placid tone. It sounded almost like surprise, and almost like gratitude.

"No one else," I returned her words from earlier to her. I didn't know her circumstances, but I couldn't help but wonder what they were to have such a young girl be such a skilled combatant, to have such finely honed instincts at her age. For some reason, I couldn't help but think that my statement might have more truth in it than just me turning her words around her.

Was the reason she was so dedicated to coming to my aid because she herself had no one to do the same?

The silence between the two of us stretched on, punctuated by another loud explosion from the ongoing hunt outside. If I couldn't still see her shadow, I might have thought that the girl had left. Finally, the silhouette across from me nodded once. "Thank you," her voice was a breeze so soft it barely made it to my ears, but I heard it nonetheless.

With a smile, I stepped up onto the banner guarding the second floor from the drop to the first, and then stepped off it casually. A brief round of tracing and my landing was as soft as a cat's. I started to walk towards the girl. When she saw me move closer, she slunk deeper into the shadows beneath the stairs. I raised my eyebrow. "Are you alright?" I asked her, concerned by her movement and I hurried my pace to see if she needed help.

"Don't look," she whispered from the darkness, and I think I caught another emotion in her voice. Now definitely worried I started to hurry my pace even faster, when my finally adjusted eyes caught sight of the girl who had come rushing to my rescue.

"Tabitha," I began, stopping my advance and turning my head to the side, feeling vaguely embarrassed. "Why are you naked?"

Another moment of silence, and then, "Hurried," echoed from the shadows. It took me another second to put it together, but I think I got the gist of it. I had wondered how she had managed to find where I was hiding so quickly. It looks as though she had rushed out without bothering to grab any clothes at all, unlike what I had thought was the first wave with their bathrobes. It would explain how she had managed to find where I was hiding so fast. She must have caught sight of me just as I was entering through the window, and then came this way herself. It looks like the girl's combat experience had kicked in, and once more modesty had been the first sacrifice of the battlefield.

Still, despite the fact that I was a grown man and no stranger to nakedness, I felt myself getting embarrassed by the situation. I was well aware that Tabitha was really seventeen, and a powerful and proven force in a fight, but that didn't change the fact that she just looked so young. Turning around fully, I unbelted my cloak from around my waist, and then held it behind me. "We can't ever let Irukukuu know about this," I joked slightly, trying to ease the tension. "She'd never let it go if she knew."

It was a handful of seconds before her voice came again, this time from directly behind me. "Yes," she agreed, and I felt the cloak being taken from my outstretched hand. I waited till the brief rustling behind me signified that the girl was once more covered, and then a brief touch on my shoulder from her staff prompted me that she was decent.

I turned around to confront Tabitha, and had to physically suppress myself from flinching. Her tousled blue hair and glasses and slightly blushing face were the only thing visible besides her arm and her staff. The rest of her was completely draped by my much too long cloak. She looked vulnerable and small, like a little kid draped in her parent's clothes. Even though she was the same age as Louise, she either had an even later growth spurt awaiting her, or just wasn't going to get any taller at all.

Either way, she looked impossibly adorable. For a brief moment I wanted to take her home and give her dollies and ponies and cute little dresses. It was as though she was the physical incarnation of all the cuteness that her familiar possessed in personality.

I suppressed a shudder again. Thank the Root she had mental and physical abilities far surpassing what her appearance suggested. If she at all acted like she looked I would have no other choice but to adopt her as my new honorary little sister. As it was, it was a struggle to at least continue to think of her as a combat worthy companion deserving my respect, regardless of her cuteness.

In the lengthening and gradually growing more and more awkward silence that developed, I searched desperately for anything that could start a conversation.

Because of that when the door to the ballroom was kicked in and an angry and fuming Montmorency barged her way in, I was actually thankful. Tabitha had reacted to the noise almost instinctively and had darted so that she was hiding behind me. I found it almost amusing how even her staff was capable of being tucked behind my tall frame, so that I was left alone to face the wrath of the peeped upon blond.

"Yo," I called jovially, raising a hand in greeting. "Monmon! Enjoying the festivities?"

"You," the furious blond hissed. It looked as though she had been one of the girls who had been in such a rush to punish that she had stuck with wearing her bathrobe rather than getting fully dressed. She was pulling a Louise, scrunching up her back like a cat and clutching a twitching wand in her shaking fist. "Where is he?" she demanded of me. It appeared as though her feminine rage had overcome the ever present nervousness that being in my presence caused her. Behind her were three more girls. It took me a second, but I thought I recognized them as the trio that had been following Guiche around earlier.

"Guiche?" I guessed, taking a well educated shot in the dark about just what particular prey this coven was hunting.

"Of course Guiche! Who else would have the…" Montmorency trailed off, her voice degenerating into incomprehensible growls as she started making choking motions in the air in front of her. Behind her, as though rehearsed, the other three groupies nodded in unison. "…to try something like this?" the blond finished. It looked like she hadn't realized that halfway through the sentence she had forgotten to keep using words. Still, I could make a guess about just what she was trying to say.

"Actually," I told her, "this was planned by the rest of the Undine Knights, not Guiche." The frank admission seemed to put a hold on the war path of the four girls.

"What?" Montmorency ground out, as apparently the idea of Guiche not being involved with something like peeking just didn't seem to connect in her head.

"The rest of the order decided that Guiche and I needed cheering up, so they dragged the two of us into it without telling us till it was over," I explained. Behind me, Tabitha stirred briefly. It looked like she was confused by my casually admitting that I had peeked as well. I continued on. "Guiche was actually outraged about the whole thing."

"R-really?" Montmorency gaped at me. Her angry flush began to deepen, as it slowly transformed into embarrassment, and maybe pride that her boyfriend had apparently not sided with the perverts.

"Well, he was until someone told him that you were in the bath," I continued blithely, shattering her hopes in one cruel blow. "Then he couldn't resist anymore."

The three girls whose names I still didn't know once more froze, and again, I could have swore I heard a cracking noise as their hopes of attracting the apparently rather popular blond boy were again shattered in front of their eyes. Montmorency's blush changed back from pride to anger, though now it was also equally embarrassed.

"R-r-really?" she squeaked, apparently not sure if she was angry that Guiche had seen the goods before she was ready, or complimented that her body was enough to shatter Guiche's new found self control.

"Oh yes," I assured her. I began to smile, the same cheerful smile that I had given the boys right before I ratted them out. "You see, the rest order apparently decided to make this their first official combat operation. They planned it out, as though you were an enemy force that had to be infiltrated." My smile turned vicious. "Apparently they hadn't realized that no plan survives a confrontation with an enemy. And more than that, they shouldn't have attempted to take advantage of my Master as they did. Naturally, I have to see them punished just as surely as you do." Montmorency narrowed her eyes, apparently disagreeing that the only reason they deserved to be punished was because it was Louise that had been peeked on, and not the rest of them. She apparently didn't think I was entitled to the same level of indignation as the rest of the girls.

Tough luck. I certainly felt I did.

Without another word, I traced a weapon. Montmorency's eyes widened as she saw what I had formed in my hand. I held it out to her, offering it hilt first. "Go, Montmorency. Track them down. All of them. Be the instrument of my vengeance," I cooed at her, my voice seductive, drawing her in as she followed the weapon in my hand as I moved it towards her. Hesitantly, as though unsure of the rightness of taking a weapon from me, but unable to resist the siren call of it, she reached out and took it, holding it in front of her face, pointing at the ceiling.

"It's beautiful," she whispered, awe in her voice as she held Torashinai for the first time. The cursed weapon purred in her hand, the tiger pendant curling and flapping like the tail of a beast in the still air as it found itself being held by one whose desire to cause suffering matched its own. I could almost hear it whispering sweet nothings to her, promises of pain and vengeance.

"Yes. And now it falls to you," I whispered to her, my smile both cruel and proud at my ally in my cause. "Wield it."

"Yes," Montmorency whispered, her voice laced with dark sadism. "Yessss," she hissed, drawing out the word, before she began to emit a cruel chuckle. "Fufufufufu!" Behind me, Tabitha shivered at the sound. That reminded me.

"Oh yeah," I continued, now sounding as though the last few minutes had never happened, the previous mood replaced by a normal one. "If you see Louise or Kirche, could you send them this way?"

Montmorency blinked, coming back to herself. "Huh? Why?" she asked, confused by the sudden change in mood.

"It's Tabitha," I explained, and the girl behind me made a brief movement of surprise. "She was so shocked and scared by the idea of being spied on, that she forgot to grab a robe when she ran out," I lied shamelessly, explaining the girls haste as embarrassment rather than a desire to protect what was potentially one of the peepers. Behind me, Tabitha moved her staff enough for it to peek out from beside my shoulder, but kept herself hidden behind me. Montmorency's eyes widened as she realized the implication of that statement. "I found the poor girl hiding in here earlier and gave her my cloak, but it just wouldn't be appropriate for her to walk around underdressed like that. Could you have Kirche or Louise bring a change of clothes for her?"

"You poor thing," Montmorency cooed. Apparently the thought of the young looking girl being embarrassed seemed to trigger something maternal in the not much bigger blond. "I'll send them right over if I see them," she assured the blue haired girl hiding behind me soothingly. From outside, a distinctive cry was heard. It sounded very much like Guiche. Suddenly remembering her previous quest, Montmorency turned and darted out the door. "Gotta go!" she called back without a second glance; the three girls who had been accompanying her left too, their gaits more despondent then enthusiastic.

In the silence that descended on the ballroom, I couldn't help but feel a vague sense of satisfaction. It wasn't quite the same as having killed them all myself, but I felt assured that by the time the girls were finished with them, the boys would have wished that I had just done the job myself.

"Well," I said cheerfully still feeling boisterous at the turn of events, "we should be able to get you some clothes soon enough. Do you think you want to join in on the hunt?" I asked the girl behind me.

Rather than answering me, she suddenly gasped and then I felt her press herself tightly against my back. I could feel both of her hands clutching my shirt tightly, and a second later I heard her staff clatter as she dropped it so that she could latch onto me tighter.

"Tabitha!" I gasped, shocked, lifting my arms in surprise at her sudden actions and trying to look over my shoulder or under my arm at the girl who was pressed against my back. "What in the Root?"

"Noise," she whispered, and this I was absolutely sure that I heard emotion in her voice. She sounded unnerved, frightened even. My eyes narrowed, and I started paying more attention to the sounds coming within the ballroom than the mayhem that was taking place outside of it.

From the corners of the room, I heard distinctive rustling noises, as well as strange tapping sounds.

"What is it?" I asked, my tone now serious. If it was enough to unnerve Tabitha, who had been willing to stare down giant golems and platoons of the Dead, then it wasn't anything to take lightly.

"Ghost," she whispered again, and now I could feel her shaking against me.

"Where?" I asked, preparing myself. I've come across a few of them in my time. Mostly just collections of dark emotions that had managed to fester long enough to gain enough power to manifest physically, but two or three times they had been specters of individuals who just managed to suffer or hate enough to come back on their own. They weren't particularly threatening on their own, mostly if you have the right equipment for the job, but I could see how a mage in this world might be at a disadvantage against them, especially if that mage didn't happen to be a fire elementalist.

In response, Tabitha just whimpered. That made me nervous. If she was being taken out so easily, maybe the ghost had some kind of ability centered on fear. I knew a few mystic eyes that could manage emotional manipulation. I checked my circuits, trying to see if I might be coming under influence. I couldn't find any foreign energy in me though, so the ghost must be focusing on Tabitha. I prepared myself. I had just the weapon for ethereal undead.

A few moments passed, the noises growing louder, as I waited, all my senses on alert and my body poised to act. When I felt a tug at my pants, no doubt trying to attack me through the floor thinking the ground would protect it, I spun, tracing my weapon. "Die twice you hell spawn abomination!" I shouted, lifting the sword I had chosen high so I could bring it down on the undead beast. Beside me, Tabitha let loose a small scream and dropped to her knees, wrapping her arms around my legs tightly. It would hamper my movements, but after I fought off the first waves I would be able to pick her up and protect her better. She was so light it probably wouldn't interfere with my abilities too much. Adjusting my balance my eyes darted downward, seeking out the…

Adorable little dolly that had been tugging at my pants and had now fallen backwards in surprise. I froze, and cocked my head to the side.

"An alviss?" I asked the room in general confused. The little doll nodded at me, standing back up. It was in the shape of a girl, the proportions about what you would expect from a children toy. Around the rest of the ballroom, more of the little dolls were emerging, and beginning to dance in pairs and in groups. When the one at my feet tugged at my leg again, and then made a curtsey I couldn't help but ask doubtfully, "Are you inviting me to a dance?" The little doll nodded brightly, and still clutching my leg with her face buried in it, Tabitha whimpered.

Feeling a great deal out of my depth at the situation, I addressed the doll. "Look, it's nothing personal, but the last time I came across a group of alviss they were being used by a sadistic evil bitch who was trying to use them to kill me and my Master." The doll at my foot put both its hands to its face, as though pantomiming a shocked gasp. "It's because of that that I really don't like alviss that much." The doll drooped, seeming disappointed by my admission. I suddenly had an inexplicable feeling of shame, as though I had kicked a puppy or something. "Um," I ventured, still confused by what was happening. "Maybe later?" I finally supplied, doubtfully. That seemed to cheer the doll up, because it curtseyed, and then began spinning away to join the rest of the dancing puppets.

Still holding my sword in the air and ready to strike, I started to feel a little silly. Tabitha remained latched onto my leg, the pale skin of her neck peeking out from where the cloak, pooled around her like a midnight blue pond, had slipped a bit when she had stopped using one hand to clutch the garment tight and started using both of her hands to clutch me tightly instead. Could it be…?

"Tabitha?" started, my confusion still thick in my voice. "Are you by chance scared of ghosts?" The blue hair against my knee nodded up and down reluctantly. It was enough for me to work with, but it still was a boggling concept. This valiant young girl, already a knight for years, and a veteran of many battles, was scared of ghosts? Why? It's not like they were the Blue or anything. Or lunchboxes…

Well, maybe I shouldn't be pointing fingers at peoples little phobias, come to think of it.

I was trying to decide what to do when a voice from the front broke out. "Dear Founder! What on earth is that thing?"

Well, it looks like we had company. It seems that Montmorency had passed on my message to both of the intended recipients, because Louise and Kirche, both wearing bathrobes, had entered the ballroom at some point in the last few minutes. Louise was staring at the sword in my hand, gaping at it, while Kirche had both her hands up covering her mouth for some reason. What are they…?

I suddenly realized the scene they had walked in on. Me, standing tall and holding a sword high in the air, Tabitha, naked except for a cloak which was probably only providing barely decent covering while on her knees clutching my legs, and a large number of dolls, all of which were dancing playfully around us.

Yeah, I think that would qualify as a little weird.

"You two," Kirche whispered, sounding shocked. "You two were…"

"Wait," I started, embarrassed, wanting to put a hand out to halt her so I could give her a proper explanation for the scene, but unable to due to the sword that Louise was still staring at with wide eyes.

"You two were role playing!" Kirche finished her sentence in a delighted shout, clutching both her hands together as she gushed. "Oh Darling, if I had known you were interested in that kind of thing, I would have been happy to help! What is the scenario?" she asked eagerly, running across the room as she did so, her barely closed robe flapping close to indecency. "Evil overlord and the captured damsel? Or is it a grateful maiden being rescued from the evil dragon?" Without waiting for a response, Kirche threw herself down and began clutching my legs on the other side of Tabitha. The passionate redhead continued, "Oh no, dread lord! Please, punish not my village!" She had apparently decided on the evil overlord scenario. "Instead, slake your horrible lusts upon my nubile, virginal body!"

It took everything I had not to just drop the sword and sink my face into my hands. On the plus side, it seemed as though the addition of the redhead had been enough to pull Tabitha out of her scare. Now it seemed she was hiding her face in my leg out of embarrassment.

"First of all," Louise piped up, still staring, "Virginal? You, Kirche?" Louise snorted disdainfully, and the redhead broke character long enough to stick her tongue out at my pink haired Master. "Second of all, what is that thing?" She pointed at my weapon, her eyes so large I could see the whites of them even from across the room.

"It's a sword, Master," I told her bluntly, seeking refuge from the madness in sarcasm. Louise only shook her head in contradiction.

"I've seen swords," she told me just as bluntly. "And I don't think that qualifies. It's nearly three times my size!"

I glanced up at the blade in my hand. At nearly half again my size in length, and wider than my shoulders in width, it was certainly not the traditional proportions for a blade. "It's a very big sword," I corrected my earlier statement.

"Ah," Kirche broke in. "Barbarian King. Seek not to ravage the lands as is your want. Instead, ravage us, your slave harem." It seemed as though Kirche had changed the scenario she was enacting, still trying to find whichever one she thought we had been doing earlier. Tabitha shrank even lower, and I could make out her neck turning red from embarrassment as Kirche included her in my apparent harem.

"What on in the name of the Root would you use something like that for?" Louise demanded, still not able to process the weapon I was carrying. "How can you even lift it?" she continued, her hands coming up to pull at her hair as the apparent frustration being confronted by the weapon had instilled in her.

I decided that describing the history of the sword was preferable to explaining just why it was I was apparently posing with it over a half naked girl. "Its name is Dragonslayer," I told the pink haired girl. "It was originally commissioned by a king who was having trouble with a particularly nasty dragon terrorizing his kingdom. It was made this size so that it could be used to penetrate the scales and muscles of the beast."

"So that's why it's so big," Louise murmured.

"Brave knight," Kirche tried again. "You have rescued us, the virgin sacrifices to calm the beast's rage by slaying it! How might we ever repay you?" I had a feeling she had a few ways in mind.

"Well, actually," I continued, trying my best to ignore the redhead at my feet. "It ended up being so big that no one could use it," I admitted sheepishly. That part definitely wasn't one of the more impressive aspects of the legendary blade. "It ended up being stuck in the smith's home for a few decades until a warrior that was being hunted by demons managed to be able to wield it. After that, he used it to hunt down the ones who were hunting him. Along the way, it killed so many spirits and monsters that it started to hunger for them. Dragonslayer is one of the best swords in existence for killing spiritual beings."

"I have you now, wretched hunter!" Kirche declared passionately. "Now we two succubi will punish you for our sisters whom you have slain!"

"So how can you use it then?" Louise was still apparently too distracted by Dragonslayer to pay attention to Kirches attempts at starting a scene.

"Magic," I told her, this time not being facetious. If it was only a combination of my reinforcing, the Gandalfr's enhancements, and the Gandalfr's instincts that let me wield this blade. It seemed instinctively knowing the way to use the weapon and actually knowing the proper position to hold it so that it wouldn't throw me off my balance went a long way to making me actually consider this a viable weapon. Considering its sheer crushing power, combined with its ability to hamper even the non-physical, I decided to play around with it and see if I could develop a comfortable means of wielding Dragonslayer more often later.

Still, once I finished having that revelation, I decided to detrace the blade. It looked like it wouldn't be finding any undead victims today. The blade, one of the ones that were old enough to possess the awareness of steel in enough abundance to have a favored enemy, seemed disappointed as I let it dissolve.

"Yes, Sir Knight," Kirche cooed up at me, rubbing her face against my thigh. "Now that you have put away your sword, let us, two innocent shepherdesses, provide another place for your weapon to be sheathed." With my hands free I was finally able to start massaging my head to try and relieve the growing ache there.

"Kirche," Louise said to the Germanian, apparently finding that line every bit as tacky as I did, "just give Tabitha some clothes already." She paused, and then blushed as Kirche started to willingly obey her command. "Not the ones you're wearing!" she shrieked in embarrassment.

Once more, Tabitha and I found ourselves sighing in unison at our friends' antics.

*Scene Break*

_ That night, Louise found herself once more repeating the refrain of 'Stupid Kirche' in her head as she tried to go to sleep. Really, Louise had to ask herself. Was Kirche really the best option she had at the moment for breaking Shirou out of his shell? There had to be some way that was a bit less embarrassing to witness._

_ Still, at least the redhead was good for something the pink haired girl assured herself. She had definitely proven that Shirou had the ability to deal with things that annoyed him without stabbing them. Or arranging them to get stabbed. Or bludgeoning. Or beheading. Honestly, if she had had to deal with someone like Kirche coming after her like that, she would have snapped long ago. _

_ However unconventional it was, Louise had to admit that Kirche definitely got results. Shirou spent so much of his time being cynically amused or calculatingly homicidal that it was a relief to see that he had other emotions somewhere in there, even if they were just embarrassment. So far she hadn't been completely certain of that. The redhead also seemed to help engender good relations between her Servant and others. Both he and Tabitha had looked equally mortified after the scene in the ballroom, and seemed to have been brought closer together in mutual embarrassment for their friend's shamelessness._

_ Louise had been so certain that the knights would be what she had needed in order to help Shirou start forming new bonds with people. She had even go so far as to start practicing her newly learned politic skills to try and get as many of the other boys to join the order, and as many of the girls to get interested as well, just to try and increase the people Shirou would talk with outside of violent situations. _

_ Unfortunately, that seemed to have back fired. Shirou still wasn't socializing much with any of them besides Guiche, and that was purely due to the previous bond that had been formed before hand, and instead Shirou had somehow managed to instead bring a violent situation to the rest of the young knights instead._

_ Not that Louise regretted Shirou's decision in that matter. She had been rather pleased at the timely warning, and the chance to enact feminine vengeance on the peepers herself._

_ Still, it just seemed that most people didn't have what it took to draw Shirou further out of the layer of ice that seemed to have formed around him. It seemed that there were only a select few that her Servant would be willing to spend any prolonged length of time with. Herself, Professor Colbert, Guiche, Kirche, Tabitha, Henrietta, Agnes, Siesta…_

_ Louise was rather startled to notice that the list was predominantly female. _

_ No, she corrected herself, now considering the list carefully. Not females. Strong females. Louise felt she had the right to list herself as fairly decent combatant by this point and she already knew that Kirche and Tabitha could both handle themselves in a fight. Agnes as well, being a captain and apparently a favored partner for sparring to her Servant. Henrietta and Siesta were both less fighters, but Louise felt she could consider both of them strong in their own way. Henrietta was leading a country after all and Shirou had himself complimented the queen on her inner character several times. And Siesta, well, Siesta could wield a frying pan with fiercesome skill, and besides that had strength of character and dedication that Louise had noted herself, and had on occasion found herself jealous of as well. _

_ Louise glanced over at the maid, who was in fact sharing her bed with her at that very moment. Ever since Siesta had been promoted to Shirou's personal attendant, she had begun spending the night in the room with Louise and Shirou as well. Shirou remained comfortable on the collection of sheets, but Louise had decided to allow the maid to use half of her too large mattress instead. Siesta insisted it was so she could be on hand during the night if there was anything her 'Master' needed, and Louise let the white lie go by uncalled because for all Siesta's intentions to try and seduce her Servant, it was just as likely for the maid and herself to end up reading another one of their romance books, or braiding each other's hair, or any of a dozen other distinctly feminine activities._

_ At first Louise had wondered how her male Servant had put up with it, until the day she caught him suppressing a smile and realized that even as she was launching a campaign to try and get him to open up more, he too was continuing his own covert plan to get her to spend less time focused on his world of bloodshed and conflict._

_ While Louise considered the revelation she had just had about Shirou's strange quirk of opening up to strong women, she briefly wondered if maybe she should try and do something to try and encourage some of the women in his life to spend more time with him. If nothing else, it might get him to be more open with his protective streak, maybe help him remember what it was like when he fought for more than just his ideals and Master, when he had fought for his comrades as well._

_ It was while she was pondering this decision that Siesta rolled over with a happy sounding mumble in her sleep and reached out to latch onto Louise like an oversized teddy bear. Louise had only a moment before she found her face planted on Siesta's chest as the maid mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like, 'No, not there Master!' Louise once more decided that the situation was much funnier when it was happening to Shirou._

_ That's it, Louise decided. She was going to throw every woman she came across at her Servant. Except for Eleanore, but including Cattleya. _

_ After all, if Louise, as the Master, had to be uncomfortable due to her hormones, then it was only fair that her Servant suffer the same._

_ And so, using the distraction of plotting a tryst for her Servant, interjected with random repeats of the mantra 'Stupid Kirche', and trying desperately to once more not think about kinky threesomes, Louise fell asleep, dreaming of swords and battles._


	19. Distant Utopia: The Nineteenth night

Hill of Swords: Distant Utopia: the Nineteenth night

Author's notes: Well, another night up. Let's see, a few things to talk about, then a few things to note, and then on with the story! First off, I've been getting a lot of reviews about people who are upset with my minor grammatical errors. You know things like its and it's, stuff like that. Honestly, it's kind of a funny story. You see, one of my classes this semester is actually a technical writing class. Before I started taking it, I didn't actually know the difference between its and it's. I'm sure many of you have noticed a lot more errors in my earlier chapters then in the later ones. You can thank class for that. As for the current errors, well, I'm actually justifying taking time away from homework and stuff to write these chapters as practice for getting over these kinds of errors. That's actually one of the reasons i haven't taken up a proof reader, because I want to see how well I've improved. So if you noticed them in the past and spoke up, well, sorry, but I'm trying to get over this little hurdle. Feel free to keep mentioning them if you see them. If I ever make the perfect chapter, then I'm gonna go out and celebrate hardcore.

Let's see, anything else. Ah, some reviewers have mentioned their distaste over two other important parts. The first I keep getting is lack of suitable enemy for Shirou. Well, I kinda agree with you. There really hasn't been anyone besides a few specific examples that have really pushed Shirou. I know that lack of conflict can make a story dull and boring, but I like to think that the earlier parts of the story simply focused on less man vs man conflict, and more man vs self. I think the story has been mostly been character driven so far. If you're still looking forward to Shirou getting some action, then I think you might like the next few chapters. He's getting set up for the final show down now.

The second thing people have been noticing is my lack of actual Noble Phantasms, and my liberal use of various plugs, like the Dollmaster and Dragonslayer. Can't really argue with that. I'll try to get back on track with using actual legendary weapons. The reviewer who sent me that link to lists? Thanks. I had no idea wikipedia actually had a list of legendary weapons. Very convenient.

Speaking of weapons, a particularly noticeable one makes its appearance here. Let me know how you think I handled it.

Also, kudos to the reviewer who totally nailed one of my plot holes. Shirou still isn't supposed to be able to read at this point. I thought about going back and editing that out, but decided that instead I'm gonna try my hand at correcting that mistake in a later chapter. It just feels kind of douchebaggery to go back and change things around and expect readers to religiously reread everything to see what I've flipped about. Instead, I'm going to try my hand at 'hand waving' an explanation later. I'll let you know when the actual hand wave happens, so when it does let me know if I adequately fixed it post script.

Now, onto some specifics of the chapter.

*Somewhat massive Spoiler Alert if you're unfamiliar with Familiar of Zero. You've been warned*

First off, I think the big scenes here are Shirou and Henrietta, and Shirou and Tabitha. I think I handled both of them fairly well, and I'm sure some people will note my attempt at the 'Nasu stream of consciousness' that pops up at one point. At least, I tried for the 'nasu stream of consciousness'. Please give me your opinions on that part.

Honestly, the biggest thing I'm wondering about in this chapter is none other than Sheffield. For those of you who know FOZ, I'll go ahead and describe what I'm aiming for. Joseph, Sheffield's Master is big on the war game thing, right? He goes out of his way to arrange conflicts that are about even in nature just so he can enjoy watching them happen, or at least that's what I've gotten about him so far. Since Master and Servant, or master and familiar as it may be, are supposed to be similar in nature, Sheffield is coming out as someone who's not looking to just win. She wants an even battle for her confrontation with another Servant, same as Joseph originally spares Louise because he wants a void vs void fight as well. That's why so far their encounters have been just a matter of Joseph and Sheffield feeling out the opposition to see how it stands so far. This leads to the second major alteration I made to Sheffield's character: her massive collection of magical artifacts. I figure, Servant to a King, access to the royal treasury, heck, even in the books she mentions how she's been deliberately hunting down magical treasures to use. The end result is that for the first time ever Shirou is gonna be coming across someone who has nearly as diverse a set of magical artifacts as he does. I hope that helps reassure some of the people worrying about whether or not Shirou is going to have an actual enemy at some point that yes, he really will.

Also, I've found a few different translations of Sheffield's runic name. Before I used 'Myozuntnirn', but recently decided that I like the 'Myoznitnirn' better. It just seems to go better with the whole consonant vowel ratio that Gandalfr has to it.

As always, please, enjoy my writing. If there's anything you like, give a shout. If there's anything you don't, also, let me know.

Now on with the story.

*Story Start*

"So what will you be going as to the Ball of Sleipner?" Louise asked me as I poured her, Siesta, then Derflinger, and finally myself a cup of tea. Siesta pouted as she watched me be the one who served the group. The maid had been continuing her campaign to take over all my simple pleasures, and had had finally turned her unrelenting eye on the tea pot. It was quickly becoming a race between the two of us nightly to see who would get to the preparations first. The first few times she had done so, had been bitter blows to my pride, but I had quickly devised a strategy to keep her occupied until I had time to secure the prize: just keep giving her more chores until she was too busy to make it to the kettle on time. I had offered her fair terms to reduce her workload, to renounce the tea altogether, but she continued to persevere, tenaciously attacking each obstacle I put in her way as she cruelly attempted to take over my rightful position as lord of the tea pot.

I had a feeling this struggle might go on for a while.

"That's the costume party all the students have been talking about, isn't it?" I asked, taking my seat at the table. It was nearly time for bed, and both Siesta and Louise were dressed in their bed clothes as they took their tea. Siesta had managed to settle into the room comfortably enough after she forced herself to move in. Technically, Siesta still had lodging over in the servant's quarters with the rest of the maids. The country girl continued to use the room as a place to store her belongings, usually going over there to change her clothes and gather any supplies she'd need for the night during the day. "I don't exactly have much in the way of props or clothes. I'll probably just turn a strip of clothe into a mask and go as a bandit or something."

Siesta put on a stern face, raising both her hands into the air and clenching them into fists. "Never fear, Master," she told me seriously. "As your maid, I'll sow together something suitable for a costume!"

"Oh?" I asked her, a bit relieved. "Do you think you'll have enough time? Its tomorrow night, isn't it?"

"Don't worry, Master," she assured me solemnly. "However," and despite her serious expression, her cheeks began to redden. "Since there's so little time to prepare, the costume might have to be a bit brief."

"Brief?" I asked, my eyes narrowing slightly. Louise, who was watching the whole scene, was keeping her cup to her lips for a suspiciously long time for her just to be taking a sip. It looked like she was taking the tips I gave her for concealing inappropriate facial movements into account, because I had a stirring suspicion that she was smiling at something. "How brief?" I asked the maid, raising an eyebrow suspiciously.

"If you go as a barbarian from the southern continent, I could have the loincloth completed in time," Siesta told me, her cheeks turning more and more red as she continued. I narrowed my eyes at that.

"How long would it take you to get the rest of the costume?" I asked, already suspecting the rest of the answer.

"That is the costume, Master," she confirmed my suspicions without hesitation, nodding to herself as she did so. "I would need to take measurements," she continued, and now her face was so bright I was surprised it wasn't glowing. "You would have to undress for them," she added, "and I would have to… have to…."

It looked like the lessons on concealing your involuntary responses that the maid had been sitting in on finally reached the end of her ability to conceal, and she broke down, putting both hands on her cheeks and wiggling in the chair as she finally succumbed to the 'kya' she had managed to suppress during her offer.

I shook my head with a sigh. "I'll stick with the bandit costume," I told her. Judging from the length of time from when she started blushing to when she finally gave in to her inner fantasies, it looked like Siesta was starting to get better and better and controlling her not so hidden and terrible lusts. I wasn't sure how I felt about that. On one hand, she'd be able to get more work done without spontaneously descending into wiggle fits. On the other hand, it meant that I'd have trouble knowing just when I was accidently tapping into one of her triggers and I would be less and less certain which actions to avoid in order to keep her from finally giving into her lusts and pulling a Kirche-esque seduction on me.

Truly, these were dangerous times I was living in.

"Actually," Louise spoke up, no longer even trying to cover her smirk with her cup, "Costumes will be provided at the ball itself," she confirmed for me. I kept an eye on the smile, even while I cocked my head to the side in confusion. There it was again. That dangerous smile that wasn't quite a Tohsaka Rin class, but still to malevolent to be normal. It seems that she might just have developed her own special 'Louise Valliere Scary Smile'. Root help us all.

"Provided?" I asked, thinking that there might be some kind of theme to the ball that was unannounced. Maybe they just wanted to make sure that everyone had the same cloak and mask in order to make it more anonymous than if people were to make their own distinctive costumes.

"They'll be using the magic artifact, the 'Mirror of Truth', to let the students disguise themselves," Louise explained, leaning back in her chair as she let her cup rest on the table in front of her. "The point of the ball is to let everyone interact with each other regardless of status or age so they use the mirror to allow the participants to have impenetrable disguises."

"Disguises from a mirror?" I asked, my eyebrows narrowing in confusion. "What does this mirror actually do?" I had to ask. I know of a few artifacts that could allow someone to disguise themselves, and even a few Noble Phantasms that could do the same, though sadly most of those phantasms were things other than swords or weapons so I had limited access to them. I didn't particularly mind, seeing as I preferred straight up fights anyway, but I could think of a few times when something like that might have come in handy.

"The mirror is supposed to show you your heart's deepest desire for yourself," Louise explained gesticulating with her cup as she took on her lecturing pose. I decided that since Louise had managed to graduate into her own class of scary smiles and scary laughs she should deserve her own lecture positions as well; I dubbed this one, sitting down and gesturing with a cup, to be 'Louise Valliere Lecture Position One'. "But they prepare it for the ball before hand so that it will instead be able to give you the appearance of whoever it is you're concentrating on at the moment."

"The appearance?" I asked, trying to figure out how they would do something like that. I was under the impression that illusions weren't exactly common considering I couldn't really figure out which element they would fall under. The only illusion I know about is Louise's void spell of the same name.

"I don't know the specifics," Louise admitted, shrugging a bit in embarrassment over not being able to answer my questions as well as I could usually answer hers, "but I believe it has to do with using wind and water." I guess that kind of made sense, in its own way. Water can cause interesting distortions when viewed through, and water particles in the air are what cause rainbows. It sounded a bit complex and a little overdone for just a costume party, but I guess nobles did like their overdone events and spectacles.

"So what would happen if you looked in without having a clear disguise in mind?" I asked my little Master with a small frown, rolling the idea in my head. Louise shrugged, indicating she didn't know, or didn't care, or maybe both.

"I imagine it would do what it normally does and show you what you most wish, and then change you into it." Louise took a sip of her tea, eying me carefully. "The ball probably won't be as fun for you as for the rest of us," she admitted, with a frown. "After all, you won't be able to identify any of the historic figures or uniforms that most students will probably choose. And the same in reverse for yourself." She rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

"Ah!" Siesta agreed, rejoining the conversation. "Maybe Master would like to tell us who he will go as now so we can be sure to find him at the party!"

"You'll be attending too, Siesta?" Louise asked in surprise, glancing over at the maid. I started rubbing my chin, only partially paying attention to the conversation as I focused on my thoughts.

"Not attending in costume, Louise," the country girl admitted sheepishly. "But the castle staff was a little shorthanded so I volunteered to help them for the evening."

"Ah," Louise nodded slowly in understanding before glancing back at me and tilting her head to the side in curiosity. "Now that she mentioned it, who will you be going as? I was thinking of going as Cattleya," she admitted. That didn't surprise me, considering just how much Louise adored and idolized her gentle sister.

"I don't know," I admitted slowly. "Actually, I'm thinking of just letting the mirror do its original purpose and showing me my heart's desire instead."

"Oh?" Louise asked, narrowing her eyebrows in confusion. "Why?"

"I," I began, pausing, not sure how to explain what I was really thinking. Finally I continued. "I just think it would be interesting to have the chance to see what's really inside of me and not just what I think is inside of me."

If I were to guess, I would say that it was most likely that I would transform into my father, Kiritsugu Emiya. But then again, I remembering the first time I had seen my reflection after I had received my Chevalier cloak, and that horrible chilling moment when I had thought I was looking at Archer. I couldn't help but wonder if the unconscious imitation meant something, something more than just random chance. Why had I ended up dressed in the same manner as my potential bitter future self? Was it just coincidence, or was there some part of me that had started to unconsciously cause myself to start imitating him? It was something that had been bothering me for a while now, a little needle that just kept digging away ever so slightly at me.

This silly ball might just be the chance I needed to be able clear that up once and for all.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Louise asked me, looking nervous at the thought of it. "I mean, what if you end up turning into something embarrassing?"

I gave her a dry look. "The only person in this world who has a chance at recognizing just about anyone I could become is you, Master," I reminded her. "If it ends up being something too bad, I'll just ditch the ball and hide in the forest until the magic wears off." I raised an eyebrow. "You know, now that I think of it, this might be a good chance for you too," I pointed out. Louise blushed a little bit and looked to the side awkwardly in order to avoid meeting my eyes.

"W-w-why do you say that?" she asked, stuttering nervously. "I-I-I think I'll just settle with Cattleya."

I doubted that she had any concerns quite as specific as mine, but I still figured she'd probably be having maybe just a few identity issues. It probably had less to do with her worrying about turning into a bitter and cynical Counter Guardian version of herself, and more to do with the fact that she was a teenager. Teenagers always have identity crisis of some sort or another.

"Tell you what," I encouraged her. "Let's make a game of it. The first one of us to identify the other wins."

"Wins what?" Siesta piped in, looking like she found the idea interesting. Louise narrowed her eyes, still blushing a bit but listening at least.

"Um," I hemmed, honestly not sure what kind of prize would be appropriate. "One unrefusable request from the loser?" I offered. I didn't really expect that to work, seeing as technically Louise was already in the position to order me around, a power she wasn't at all shy about using. I started trying to think of some other prize that might be enough to lure the pink haired girl into some identity exploration when she surprised me.

"Alright," she agreed after a very brief pause. I raised an eyebrow at her. She already knew I would follow her orders. Well, most of them anyway. The only ones I'd refuse were ones that were ones that were stupid, or pointless, or embarrassing.

Alright, now I was beginning to regret offering a prize like this. For her to jump on it like she did was probably proof that there had been something she'd been thinking about for a while and already knew I would refuse it off hand. I narrowed my eyes at her suspiciously and she only gave me an innocent smile in return.

Really beginning to regret it actually.

I began to really hope that it was Kiritsugu that was still my deepest desire to emulate. I'm pretty sure he was the only one that Louise wouldn't be able to recognize from the dream cycle.

*Scene Break*

"Listen well," the instructor who was managing the Mirror of Truth told me in what she probably thought was a dramatic tone. I vaguely recognized her as the earth magic teacher that Louise had blown up on the first lesson that I had accompanied her on. "You must think only of the person you wish to become the most and not be distracted by anything. This mirror will look into your hearts deepest desires and grant you that form. Once you've prepared yourself, please remove the cloth." The teacher, an older dumpy looking lady, then promptly left, no doubt going to prepare the next student. The mirror itself was kept in a small alcove that had been draped with lush looking curtains to conceal it from view. The students were expected to line up and wait their turns before having their chance to look at the mirror. Afterwards they would exit through the back of the alcove to the ballroom proper. Before hand, several other guests, mostly family's of the students who had been invited for some reason or another, as well as the instructors had already assumed their disguises.

I had joined the line towards the end. Louise had gone on ahead, having been one of the first few students to have the opportunity to disguise herself, and I had chosen to wait till enough time had passed so that she wouldn't just be able to cheat and guess who I was based on when I entered. As I waited till the instructor had a second to clear out I chided myself for being unaccountably nervous. My hands were sweating slightly, and I had the strange urge to take a nervous gulp. Calm down, I told myself. It's not like this is a battle. It's not like I was about to be ambushed by Siesta in one of her fantasy trips. It's not like the Blue was hiding in here somewhere.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, relaxing into a brief meditation, letting my thoughts run free. With my eyes still closed I pulled the cloth covering the magic mirror away and opened my eyes.

When I saw the face staring back at me, it took me a moment to process it, and then I felt myself smile. "Well," I said, staring at the face of the one I truly most wished to be like, noticing how even my voice had been altered, "I can work with this."

*Scene Break*

From the shadowy niche I had managed to locate I took my time sipping on a small delicate glass flute that was filled with a rather tasty red wine as I looked out on the ball in general. It was part of my strategy for managing to locate Louise before she found me. There was no way she wouldn't be able to figure out who I was from my new shape. She was the only person here beside myself who had ever seen it. Unfortunately Louise had a much larger pool of unrecognizable people to draw from, and so far I'd seen nothing that instantly gave her away. I had been hoping that it would turn out that her secret role model would end up being Cattleya after all. That would make things a great deal easier, seeing as I doubt anyone else here would either know Louise's sister, or even if they did admire her enough to come dressed as the gentle girl.

As I slowly sipped my wine, more for something to do then out of any desire to get intoxicated, I took a moment to notice just how many renditions of myself were walking around. I suppose it was understandable, seeing as I was something of a public hero at the moment. Henrietta had been working hard in spreading rumors about me, most of them greatly exaggerated in terms of my skills as an effort to increase my effectiveness as a deterrent to misbehaving nobility and possible hostile foreign countries. Still, it seemed a little over the top that it appeared nearly an eighth of the party goers had decided to go as me. I took some comfort that it seemed that most of them were probably students, and at least had an accurate image to use when they were informing the mirror what shape I was. I doubt that many of the current Shirous walking around were teachers or family members. With their advanced ages and mature ideals they probably ended up with a more diverse costume set to pull from.

I took a brief moment to wonder if Queen Henrietta was feeling equally awkward, wherever she was. Before the start of the ball, Headmaster Osman had stood up and made a speech about the purpose of the Sleipner Ball. It had been a rousing and motivating lecture about the importance of realizing ideals and not judging others based on their appearances. It had very obviously touched a good number of the students, most of them the new first years, and had elevated the headmaster in their wide naïve eyes.

Until he had publicly taken his turn at the mirror and changed from an old man into a dangerously seductive eye catching young woman.

I still wasn't sure if the headmaster had done it in order to help nail in the fact that appearances can be deceiving in an effort to help students avoid potentially embarrassing themselves by hitting on something they thought was an attractive female and was instead a trap, or if he had done it to nervous students relax so they could be more honest with themselves if they perhaps weren't what they truly wanted to be, or if the old man had just wanted to be young and pretty for a night.

Whatever the case, right before he had gone and done his public little stunt the headmaster had also announced that Henrietta was also in attendance of the ball tonight, causing a great deal of excited whispering throughout the assembled crowd.

Well, I hope that Henrietta was having as much fun as I was watching the numerous copies of herself currently wandering the ball. There were even more queens at the moment than there were me. If I were to hazard an estimation at our combined fame it was that there were just too many young men who wanted to be a famous war hero, and too many young women who still harbored hopes of being princesses. I wondered if the number of our doppelgangers that were apparently using the opportunity to flirt with their opposites would help spread the rumors about her majesty and I. I'd say half of all the Kings of Swords out there were in the company of about half of all the Queen Henriettas.

Still, that got me no closer to finding Louise before she found me. I was almost positive I had located Guiche and what was probably Montmorency. Guiche was the version of me with stylized blond hair and carrying a rose instead of a sword, and Montmorency was the copy of the queen who was currently twisting the altered version of me's ear in anger while holding a copy of Torashinai. It looked like she had really taken a liking to that weapon if she had somehow included a copy of it in her costume. And I was almost positive that I had identified Kirche. She was the one that was also a modified copy, this time of the queen; the queen if she had breasts nearly three times her actual size and was wearing tight black leather and very brief chainmail. The provocative girl had taken to hugging random passersby and declaring either 'Darling!' or 'Beloved!' and waiting to see how they reacted. It looked like she was trying to hunt down either Professor Colbert or I. Beyond the rest, I could barely identify half of the costumes or characters in the party, some of them drawing from myths or folk heroes simply to obscure for me to have any way of knowing them.

Eventually, I was going to have to get out of my hiding spot and make a round through the party if I was going to find her. It was most likely that she would identify me first and I'd end up losing, but if it came to that so be it. The reason I had offered the prize in the first place was so that Louise would end up having the chance to see her own honest heart's desire, the same as I. If her knowing that truly would relieve her as much as mine had, then it would be worth it. It would be worth whatever embarrassing request she was contemplating if that were the case.

Still, there was the chance that whatever form she had would not be as much a relief to her as it was to me. I briefly eyed the Shirous that were gathered around, trying to see if any of them were actually my little pink haired Master by body language. If they were, then it would confirm that my efforts to lessen my own influence on the girl were failing. She had been making so much progress lately. All her time with Siesta and to a lesser extent Kirche, Tabitha, and Montmorency had brought about a noticeable change in her; she spent less time studying and training lately, and more time surrounded by other females. I didn't want to know what she was doing with them, seeing as whatever group she was in would often break into spontaneous giggles and half hidden glances at me, but if gossiping about her Servant's embarrassing secrets was what it took then I'd gladly sacrifice a little dignity to protect my Master's fragile heart.

It was as I was doing one last casual sweep of the party, and mentally preparing myself for the potential embarrassment of being identified first if it took me revealing myself to get Louise to reveal herself, that I saw my Master standing outside the party on one of the balconies that the ballroom opened onto. I almost missed her due to the reflection of the glass caused by the difference in light between outside and inside as well as the crowd that slowly mingled and blocked my view, but for a brief second I saw her, standing away from the crowd and looking pensive.

Or someone that looked like her anyway. I could see Louise maybe changing into an idealized older version of herself, or maybe herself the age she is now only more, ahem, developed, but the copy of my Master outside was the exact same as my Master was currently. It was most likely nothing more than a classmate with a secret crush or underclassmen with a case of idolatry for some reason or other. Still, there was a chance that maybe Louise simply was just content with the way she was right now. It was a possibility, albeit a small one. A year ago, when she first summoned me, she had been a little seething ball of inferiority complexes and secret worries about her own worth. It could just be that her greatest desire for herself was nothing more than to have the strength and sense of self-worth that she now possessed.

Deciding to investigate, I started skirting the edges of the party, making me my way towards the lone figure outside. I took care to try and keep myself from standing out, not wanting to be ambushed by the real Louise if it turned out that the one outside wasn't her. Along the way, I nearly did an about face when I came across Siesta, who was furiously glancing around the room while she took care of serving the gathered nobles and collecting empty wine glasses. However, the country girl maid was instead focusing entirely on a particular individual, one who had apparently decided to wear what I'm assuming was the barbarian costume that Siesta had originally tried to con me into wearing. Combined with the disguising power of the mirror it ended up being a hulking brute laced with muscles and wearing nothing but a loincloth and high laced sandals that looked vaguely like Hercules had, only without the lingering and palpable aura of insanity and bloodlust that he had worn when he had been called as the Berserker class. Shrugging, I instead took two glasses of wine from the platter the maid was carrying and continued on my way. Siesta didn't even glance twice at me.

When I finally made it to the balcony, I managed to sneak up behind the might-be-Louise and cleared my throat. If she turned around and recognized me in anyway then I could be certain that the one in front of me really was my little Master. "Louise?" I asked politely, my voice strange in my mouth, but a comforting strangeness to hear.

When the girl in front of me turned around, there was nothing there but curiosity. "Ah," the not-Louise said, her voice subdued. "I did not realize that anyone else was here," she continued, sounding demure and glancing shyly to the side as she blushed lightly in embarrassment. Oh yeah, definitely not Louise. With a half smile, I offered the girl one of the glasses of wine I had brought.

"Taking a moment from the crowd?" I asked her politely. The not-Louise looked uncertain for a moment, and then accepted the offered drink. I walked beside her so that I could lean back comfortably on the banister. Not-Louise hesitated for a moment, and then apparently decided to accept my company as well.

"Indeed," the girl murmured, glancing at my form and apparently trying to guess either who I was or who I was appearing as. Across the balcony from me I caught sight of myself in a small pane of glass that was covered from the other side by one of the curtains enough to allow me to see my own reflection in it. I let my eyes linger on the form I was wearing myself. "And you are?" the not-Louise asked politely in an attempt to discern who it was she was talking to.

"I was about to ask the same," I commented, returning my attention to my company with a raised eyebrow. The not-Louise flushed lightly, looking down again in apparent embarrassment.

"Is not the purpose of a costume ball to disguise ones identity?" she pointed out, glancing away. "If so, then would it not be counterproductive to reveal oneself?"

"Heh," I gave amused grunt and a wry smile. "Well then, since neither one of us is willing to tell, would you like to take turns guessing?" The not-Louise blinked at my proposal. "After all, a ball is supposed to be fun, so I think making a game of it could be amusing," I pointed out. It wasn't so much that I was here to have a good time, but I was willing to put a little effort into figuring out who it was that had chosen to come disguised as my Master. Not-Louise put one hand on her lip, seeming to hesitate in indecision, before finally giving a small smile.

"That is true," she murmured, seeming to come to a decision. "Perhaps it would be appropriate to enjoy this occasion in such a way." With a small smile, my not-Master put the wine glass I had given her on the banister of the railing, and then put both hands down, clasping them gently in front of her school uniform skirt. It was a very demure and feminine movement, something a bit unlike my actual Master's normal actions. Louise could be very feminine at times, and was well versed on the appropriate actions for a woman in all situations, but my fiery little Master very seldom could pull of 'demure'. Louise was very much more in the 'haughty' or 'superior' groups of female actions by my judgment. "Whom shall take the first round?" she asked me patiently.

I considered letting her go first. Whoever her first guess was would help me figure out where to start my own turn. Then again, I think it was pretty unlikely that she would be able to figure out who I was from my disguise. I was pretty sure that whoever this was must know Louise pretty well if she had decided to use my Master as a disguise. I was also already pretty sure that I had figured out who Kirche, Guiche, and Montmorency were. I doubt that this was Tabitha, seeing as not-Louise was just too verbose. Whoever she was was probably one of the underclassmen whom I only had a passing knowledge of. I decided to go ahead and make the first guess of the game when the two of us were interrupted.

Two loud slamming noises echoed from the entrance of the balcony, causing both me and the not-Louise to jump in surprise at the sudden intrusion. When I turned to see who had intruded I had to stop myself from gulping. Standing there, showing more emotion then I had ever seen her, was a very pissed off looking Karin the 'Heavy Wind'. The usually implacable pink haired duchess was glaring at me with narrowed eyes, her fists clenched into tight fists, her back arched like a cats, and was wearing her full battle gear with the 'X' from my attack still arched across the front of it. Briefly I wondered just what I might have done to warrant such an extreme breach of character in the usually implacable older pinkette, and for just what reason she had come. Was she here for the party like some of the other adults who were mingling with the students? Or had she finally gotten sick of my dodging her not so subtle attempts at arranged marriage while putting up with hearing rumors about me and the queen being indiscreet?

I gulped, suddenly having an all too clear mental image of me being beaten half dead and being dragged to the alter where a certain disturbing blond with a few even more disturbing habits would be waiting.

There are some fates that are worth than death, and some battles that cannot be won. I slowly began to back away from the enraged duchess, trying to decide the likelihood of me losing her if I jumped the railing and ran. The fierce looking former commander of the Manticore Knights began stalking towards me with a look that made me doubt my chances. The not-Louise gulped at the sight, and began to fidget, nervously putting space between her and me.

"Saber," the duchess ground out, as she closed in like a huntress about to kill something annoying that she had been chasing for a while, "what in the name of the Root are you doing here!"

"N-n-now Karin," I babbled as I upped the priority of me running the hell away. "Let's not do anything…wait, what did you call me?" I stopped, blinking at the name I had just been called. That's right, I was currently disguised. How in the Root did Karin know the name of the form I was wearing? Karin also stopped suddenly, blinking herself. For a second the two of us stared at each other in confusion, before realization apparently dawned on us both simultaneously.

"Louise/Shirou!" we both shouted at the same time, each of us pointing a finger at the other in accusation suddenly. The not-Louise who had been watching the whole time blinked, looking entirely confused by the sudden change in our interaction.

"Wait," Louise asked, her eyes narrowed as she put one hand on her chin and hunched over in thought. "Which one of us won?" Now that I knew I wasn't about to be forced into a shotgun marriage, er, wand point marriage, I was finding the normally expressionless features of Karin being so emotional to be almost amusing.

"That would be me, obviously," I told her, folding my arms and smirking. "You had your chance to win first. You're the only person in the world who knows who this body belongs to, so you should have known from the start." My eyes once more traced to the window where I could make out my reflection. There, staring back with an expression of mocking amusement that she probably never wore herself in her life was the image of Arturia Pendragon. The blue of her armor was softly lit from the warm light of the party, nearly blending in with the darkness of the night, like an azure shadow in the evening. The armor caught the colder light of the moon causing the steel to glimmer like polished silver. It made me feel intensely nostalgic, and I felt a twinge in my chest of longing. I soothed my features, making them more into an expression like Saber would have worn. Seeing myself like this, it reminded me of the first time I ever saw my Servant, standing over me in the darkness, like a drawn sword catching the moon right before it struck.

"That's not fair," Louise pointed out, stomping her foot and puffing her cheeks up as she did so. I had to repress a snicker at the sight of Karin's body doing something so childish. It made me half wonder just what the duchess had been like back when she had been the same age as my Master was currently. "You thought I was my mother too when you first saw me!"

"Well I had good reason to worry about your mother showing up in battle armor looking for me," I pointed out. "I had every right to think that maybe the day had come when I would have to start running very fast or face Eleanor in a white dress."

"Um," a voice said softly from the side, sounding very confused and more than a little incredulous. "What is going on?" the not-Louise piped up, my Master's features that she was wearing twisted in to abject confusion. We ignored her, determined to haggle out who it was that had one this little round.

"Well, I think I have every right not to expect my Servant to be going around wearing the body of his lover," Louise pointed out, her eye twitching. She seemed to realize just what she said and straightened up, folding her arms, her look of annoyance gradually easing into a look which bespoke just how much teasing I was about to be put to. "Something you want to tell me, Shirou?" she raised an eyebrow, her lips twisting into a smirk. "Is the big bad manly King of Swords maybe just compensating for his hidden feminine side?" The not-Louise on the side widened her eyes and began blushing, turning her gaze to me and covering her mouth in embarrassment. I rolled my eyes at the innuendo my Master was laying on.

"I'm sorry," I told her bluntly, still relaxed and leaning against the banister of the balcony. "Am I somehow supposed to be ashamed of the fact that the one who I admire most in my heart, one who was the highest pinnacle of swordsmanship, the absolute embodiment of devotion to duty, one who had steadfastedly devoted their entire life to benevolently ruling their country in a wise and fair manner was a woman? Or that I was lucky enough to have been able to be with her?" I raised my eyebrow and smirked, before once more seeing my reflection in the window behind Louise and again schooling my expression into one more appropriate to my memories.

Louise blinked at that, and then flushed a little, losing her teasing expression and glancing away in embarrassment. "Well when you put it like that, no I suppose not," she muttered, Karin's features flushing read as Louise hunched over a bit at my chiding. It was one of the small girls unconscious reactions when she was embarrassed, to make herself look as small as possible. On Karin's body it just looked unnatural. The not-Louise blinked at my explanation, losing her flushing and now staring at me with a sudden intensity, studying my body closely.

Still, now it was my turn to level a pointed glance at Louise. "And speaking of wanting to confess is there anything you'd like to say, Louise?" She blinked, not sure what I was getting at, so I prodded her a bit more. "Anyone you could think of in the world, and in the end you turn into your own mother?"

Now it was Louise's turn to flush in embarrassment. She got over it quickly though, and crossed both her arms in front of her chest and turned her nose up high in the air in indignation. "I don't see why not," she told me in a haughty tone. "My mother, Karin the 'Heavy Wind', was a powerful mage in her own right, who accomplished many amazing acts before finally finding someone she could love and settling down to raise a family in a dignified and appropriate faction," she informed me. Not-Louise suddenly snapped her head to stare at Louise at the mention of just who the pink haired woman in armor whose body Louise was wearing really was. Not-Louise began to gape and flush every bit as much at the revelation as she had at me. "If you can respect admire your Saber, than I can certainly admire my mother," she huffed, lowering her nose and glancing to the side as she began to pout.

Instead of pushing it further, I instead gave a small satisfied smile. I found myself immensely satisfied by her answer, actually. So what she wanted most was to have her accomplishments, albeit feats of great daring, courage, and most likely violence rather than more traditionally feminine achievements, and then settle down and someday raise a family. Yes, I could probably take the blame for her being so eager to get her licks in first, but it looks like I hadn't dragged her down so far that she didn't still long for some of the more cliché dreams of girls her age.

"You're right," I agreed with her easily, making her break out of her impending sulk to look at me curiously. "Tell you what," I proposed. "Why don't we call this contest a draw then?"

"I suppose," Louise admitted reluctantly, starting to pout again, but this time more playfully. "So does this mean we both get the prize?" she asked, glancing at me out of the corner of her eyes slyly.

I narrowed my eyes at her, contemplating, before finally agreeing. "That's acceptable. So what is your command then, oh kind and benevolent Master?" I asked her, cocking my head to the side and trying to conceal my nervousness. Louise's smile ratcheted up till it was nearly splitting her face.

"I'm saving it for a special occasion," she sang childishly, rubbing her hands together evilly.

"You know I have one of my own now, don't you Master," I reminded her carefully. "And that I know all of your embarrassing secrets, don't you Master?" Louise lost her smile again, and resumed pouting once more with her arms crossed.

"Well, that takes some of the fun out of it," she cursed softly to herself.

"Ah, excuse me," not-Louise spoke up again, and this time both the real Louise and I turned to look at her. Louise's eyebrows shot up as she seemed to finally realize that she was looking at a doppelganger. "Do you mean to say that Louise Francoise's mother is actually the legendary Karin the 'Heavy Wind'? And that this is what Sir Emiya's long lost lover looks like?" she asked, glancing back and forth between the two of us her eyes wide as though shocked by what she had learned. My eyebrow rose as well. There was something about her statement that caught my attention…

"W-w-wait a second!" Louise stammered, staring down at her imitator in surprise. "Who are you and why are you appearing like me?" she demanded, sounding shocked to her very core that someone apparently had decided to come dressed as herself. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at her now nervous twin. "Is that you Kirche? Were you planning on doing something naughty in my body?" Once more the Valliere/Zerbst grudge reared its head again, though honestly I was having difficulty figuring out why the first thing that came to Louise's mind for why someone was disguised as her had to do with naughty things. Not-Louise eeped as real Louise's wand suddenly appeared in her hand. Louises's usual 'wand clenched in shaking hand' usually had a somewhat cute look to it, like a little kid about to have a tantrum. The same look on her very frightening mother's face on the other hand evoked emotions more along the lines of 'absolute terror' in my book.

I set about trying to forget the image immediately in order to preserve my peaceful sleep, and instead focused on the now very nervous looking not-Louise. "Louise Francoise?" I repeated, cocking my head to the side. "Long lost lover?"

"Ah," not-Louise stammered, eyes shifting rapidly between the two of us and the door as she began to inch away. "P-p-perhaps I should be taking my leave now?" she suggested nervously.

I took a stab in the dark, finally making my first guess at her identity. "Ann?" I asked. Instantly not-Louise froze, and starting from her neck and spreading to her hairline she began to blush intensely.

"Ann?" Louise asked, cocking her head to the side as she tried to remember anyone she knew by the name of Ann. Her eyes shot open as she finally remembered just who I knew that I addressed by that name. "Y-y-your Majesty?" she began to stammer, staring at the now revealed queen beside us. Henrietta sank her head into her hands in embarrassment at having been found out, and Louise began to blush as well at the discovery that her queen and friend had come dressed as her.

"I thought it was you," I concluded, nodding my head as I did so. "There just aren't very many people who know that I've been separated from my Saber for a while now, and you're the only one among them who ever call Louise by her full name and not just her first name or her family name."

I waited for her to say anything, but for nearly a minute neither one of them would say anything. It seemed like Henrietta was too busy trying to will herself to believe that if she just kept her head buried in her hands long enough, we would disappear, and Louise was too busy staring awkwardly at herself. I felt I should warn Henrietta that the trick didn't work for ostriches, so it probably wouldn't work for her.

As the silence stretched on, growing more and more awkward as it did, I finally decided that if one of us didn't say something we might end up standing just like this the rest of the night. "So," I began, "you two enjoying the party?" It was the most cliché thing I could think of, and instantly afterwards I felt that just about anything else would have been a better choice of words. Luckily, it seemed that forced social faux passes were enough to get conversation rolling again as Louise rolled her eyes at my statement, finally breaking her flushed stare at the queen. Henrietta's frame shook for a second as she took a few deep breaths, and began to emerge from the shelter of her hands.

"Ah," Henrietta finally managed to get out as her blush began to recede. "My apologies. I didn't anticipate being discovered by you so suddenly, Louise Françoise. I apologize for my poor conduct." It looked like she was tapping on her court upbringing to find a way to disarm her embarrassment. Louise was quiet for a second, having resumed her staring at the queen, but now it was no longer with a blush.

Louise blinked when she realized that she was being addressed by her soverign, and then seemed to remember to respond. "Ah, that's fine, your Majesty," my Master assured her. When she began resuming her study of her doppelganger, Henrietta turned to address me instead.

"If you don't mind me asking," the queen began, trying to ignore the way Louise was still staring at her, "Just what was it that you two were discussing earlier?"

Ah. Well, the conversation probably had seemed a little strange to an uninformed observer. "My Master and I were having a contest over who could identify the other first," I informed her, leaving out the fact that neither of us had known what we ourselves were going to be coming as. "It turned out that neither of us were properly prepared for the other's costume."

"Ah," the not-Louise said. She glanced to the side, apparently having accepted that we had discovered her identity and now more interested in figuring out just what she had witnessed earlier. "So…" she began, her head bowed to the side, her eyes rising to meet mine briefly and then fluttering down quickly, a small blush still on her cheeks. "This is what your lover looks like?" Her eyes flickered to my body and then back to my eyes, and then back down again.

I sighed. I had a feeling I was never going to live this down. "Yes," I told her bluntly. "Yes it is." This time it was my turn for my eyes to flicker away. Once more I found myself watching my reflection in the mirrored surface of the window between us and the party.

Instead of following Louise's example, Henrietta instead smiled gently. "She's very lovely," the queen told me. Her voice sounded admiring, and when I glanced over to make sure she was just being more subtle then Louise in her ribbing, instead of amusement I found myself seeing honesty in Henrietta's, well, not-Louise's expression.

"Yes," I said, this time my voice more gentle. "Yes, she is." When my eyes glanced away again, this time Henrietta's followed them to see what it was I kept looking at. In the reflection, I could see her moving so that she could stand next to me, giving me a curious look as she tried to determine what kept catching my attention. "Sorry," I told her, still captivated by the window. "It's been many years since I've seen her." Beside me, Henrietta's eyes widened as she realized why my attention kept wandering.

"Ah!" she gasped, putting one hand to her mouth as she did so. It seemed that the realization of what this meant for me, the opportunity to see the face of my Saber, to hear her voice had suddenly struck her. "Sir Emiya," she whispered, placing a hand on my shoulder as she did so. In the reflection, I could see her own face fall, as thoughts of her own lost love no doubt came to the forefront. I closed my eyes briefly, a small contemplative smile on my face as I did so, and placed on of my hands on the one she had placed on me. Still, despite the mournful look in her eyes, the pain that suddenly laced her body, I couldn't bring myself to feel the same as she.

It had been many years since I had let my Saber go. I had known what would come, what choice my Arturia would make when it came time. It was a choice I admired, a choice I couldn't bring myself to take from her. If she had done anything else, then I wonder if I would have been able to love her as strongly as I do? She had chosen her duty over her heart, as she had when she had first drawn the sword from the stone, as she had her entire life as King. Sometimes I wondered: did I love her so much because she had made the choice, because she had shown me what it meant to truly give oneself to ones ideals, to live completely for the cause one fought for? Or did I love her despite that choice, that even though she had the opportunity to stay with me and had left I still loved her?

Whichever it was, even I didn't know. But Henrietta, she hadn't had that chance, she hadn't had that choice. Her lover had been taken, and that was it. He was gone, and she was left to carry on, with so many questions unanswered, with so many worries and doubts that would never be answered or relieved. That they had had a second, and even a third chance, and yet still those thoughts lingered disappointed me.

But then again, I suppose I'd already had a second chance to meet my Saber. Even if it was only across a great distance, we had indeed seen each other again.

And I would, without a doubt, once more, sometime in the future be reunited with her.

Perhaps, in the end, between Henrietta and I, I truly was the lucky one.

As the silence between the queen and I settled into a somewhat comforting melancholy, Louise finally seemed to collect her thoughts enough to speak. She had been staring hard at Henrietta ever since her identity had been revealed, her brow knit in intense thought. Apparently, she had been thinking so hard that she hadn't managed to follow the conversation at all, because the first thing she said after her intense scrutinizing was, "By the founder, they're right. I really am tiny."

It was such an incongruous thing to say that I couldn't stop myself from tearing my eyes away from my reflection so that I could gape at her. Beside me Henrietta's head turned as well, moving so slowly that I could almost hear the squeaking of a rusty gear being forced into movement, so that she too could gawk at Louise. Louise seemed to notice our astonishment and flushed in embarrassment. "W-w-what?" she asked, stammering in confusion. Her eyes darted between the two of us, and seemed to finally notice that the two of us had apparently been having a serious conversation. Flushing even further, she wilted under our combined stares. "You know what?" she finally got out, backing away while looking to the side and rubbing her head, "I think I hear Siesta calling. I better go see what she wants."

Henrietta and I stood there dumbly for a few moments as she gave her transparent excuse and departed. Then the two of us turned to face the other. The moment stretched on in silence for a bit more, and finally, Henrietta couldn't hold it anymore, and she began to giggle helplessly. Apparently not wanting Louise to see her doing so if my Master had lingered by the doors back to the party, the queen buried her face into my armored shoulder in order muffle the noise as her body shook with laughter.

I shook my head slowly, returning my sare after my fleeing Master. "I worry for that girl sometimes. Really, I do."

Henrietta giggled even harder at that.

*Scene Break*

"So did you come today to meet up with Louise?" I asked the queen. The two of us had remained outside on the balcony, both of us standing together and looking out past the railing into the courtyard of the academy as we did so. Henrietta had recovered the flute of wine I had brought with me when I had first approached her, and was even now beginning to sip at it once more.

"No," Henrietta admitted, her voice sounding hesitant as she did so. She glanced at me from the corner of her eyes, her cheeks reddening slightly as she did so. "In truth, it was you I came to meet tonight."

I raised an eyebrow at that. "Were you planning on having the two of us do something to help further the rumors?" I asked, curiously. So far the 'fact' that the two of us were in a relationship seemed to have become a wide spread source of whispers, but even a rumor as juicy as the queen of the land sleeping with a lowly chevalier war hero would eventually be forgotten if it wasn't periodically reinforced. Rumors that the two of us had had a clandestine rendezvous at a costume party seemed like just the kind of dramatic and overly complicated intrigue that most nobles would just eat up whole.

"That was," Henrietta hesitated, glancing away shyly, "that was not my only intention," she finally admitted slowly. "Sir Emiya," she began, glancing back at me, running her eyes slowly over the disguise I was wearing. "I found myself wishing to talk with you on a few matters," she continued.

"Matters?" I repeated carefully, studying her closely as I did so. "Matters such as? And shouldn't you have other counselors that you can turn to?"

"Indeed, there are others," the queen admitted. "But when I speak with them, I must always bear in mind to be cautious of what we discuss. With you, Sir Emiya, I often find myself able to converse more easily, and without fear of being compromised. It is something I sometimes find myself envying Louise Francoise for, to have someone like you to speak with." The queen looked ashamed at having admitted to having such thoughts about her oldest friend.

"Is that why you chose my Master's shape for the night?" I asked her, still studying her. It was vaguely disconcerting to see Louise's shape acting so unlike she normally did. Henrietta's actions, shaped from a life raised in court and the expectations of the proper behavior of a queen, were very demurely feminine. They seemed to indicate a degree of proper behavior for the way this land viewed women, a retiring and quiet type of role that was often relegated to a support position for whichever man the woman married in the end. I had no doubt that was how she had originally been raised, as a token bride that would someday cement an alliance with a neighboring country through being wed. It was almost the fate that the queen before me had found herself in. If it hadn't been for the political upheaval of Albion spilling onto the continent proper, it would have happened with Germania. Instead, Tristain had managed to find itself a queen who had risen to the occasion, who despite the misleading façade had possessed steel and iron will beneath, the will needed to lead a country successfully.

I definitely felt that Tristain had come out ahead in that case.

"Partly," Henrietta admitted, glancing down at the form of her friend. "I will admit, I have always admired Louise. She has never once lacked the dedication to follow her dreams, always fighting for her beliefs whole heartedly. For one such as myself, a woman who is often weak, I could think of no other whom I would rather emulate." Henrietta flushed at that, tilting her head downward and glancing up through her eyelashes to see my reaction. I gave a half grin when she realized she had been looking up towards my usual height and adjusted her gaze to where my disguised face was a good foot or two lower than usual.

"That is something I can understand," I assured her dryly. She smiled honestly at that, no doubt remembering just what shape I was wearing, and the reasons she had overheard for why I was proud to wear it. Her eyes lingered on me for a moment, and then she seemed to reach a decision.

"Your lover," she started, her voice laced with curiosity. "What was she like? As a queen? Or King, as you have said."

I stilled in thought, looking out towards the night as I composed my answer. "Fair," I finally started with. "She was one who believed firmly in justice and duty, and expected that out of all she led." Henrietta's eyes stayed locked on mine as she eagerly took in my words. It felt a little strange, trying to explain the legend of King Arthur to someone who had never heard it before. Arturia was one of those legends so well known in my world that it sometimes seemed like there was no one who hadn't heard it before. Still, there was one very easy element that I could describe. "She was most famous I think for her knights, and the roundtable."

"A roundtable?" Henrietta asked, not seeming to understand what I meant by specifying a shape for a piece of furniture. I smiled and began telling her some of the legends of my Saber. While doing so, I felt my gaze once more drift to the window, angling my body so I could watch myself as I told Henrietta of Camelot, and Merlin, and the Knights of the Roundtable. Henrietta listened eagerly, her eye wide and attentive as she did so. It was probably due to her disguise that I found myself momentarily wondering what it would have been like if it had been Saber whom Louise had originally summoned to her side. The thought almost caused me to snort mid story. Sure, Louise would probably have gotten along with Saber now, but back in the beginning I really don't see how that would have worked out. Arturia was proud, and had every right to be so. Back in the early days I think she probably would have washed her hands of Louise the moment the pink haired girl issued her first order of 'do the laundry' or 'sleep on the floor'.

"She sounds amazing," Henrietta admitted, as I finished my story. The queen looked troubled by her admittance. "Not at all like I," the queen said with a sigh.

I raised an eyebrow at that. "What do you mean, Ann?" I asked her, trying to get her to elaborate on her comment.

Henrietta sighed, the noise full of regret. "Where your lover took her appointment to protect her land I simply took mine to avenge my own dead lover. When yours tried to protect her kingdom and strived to make it a place of justice and chivalry, I have simply led mine to war and now am forced to lie and deceive in order to maintain even the veneer of unity. And through it all my people whisper and tell stories about me, about how I am too young, about how I'm just a silly girl, about how I will cause the destruction of my country." Her voice was full of self loathing and contempt, and she wrapped her arms around her waist tightly, her fingers clenching at her elbows so hard they turned white. "Truly, I am a contemptible woman, not worthy of the graces I have been given."

It was a shocking thing to hear her say. Sometimes, when confronted with the steel in her I forgot that besides the cunning and at times ruthless queen that I was most frequently confronted with there was an at times insecure woman, one who had been willing to abandon everything for the chance to once more be with her love, even knowing it had been a deception wrought by her enemies. Seeing the dark look on her face I felt an urge to comfort her, to take her in my arms and sooth her worries with whispered words of reassurance.

My mind flashed back briefly, to a time when the two of us had laid together like lovers for a night.

Instead, I simply told her, "You're the queen. Such sentiments are unworthy of you." She flinched at the bluntness of my words. "There's no need to compare yourself to Arturia. You've only ruled for a short time, less than a year. Trying to compare yourself to one who had ruled for decades is pointless. Rather than get discouraged over how your reign has gone so far, instead focus your efforts on how it shall go from here on out."

Henrietta shrank at my words, and then blinked, and glanced up at me in confusion. "Decades?" she asked, apparently latching onto that particular portion of my chastisement. Her eyes scrunched in thought and she pursed her lips. "But your lover is so young," she pointed out, once more looking my disguise over.

I snorted and rolled my eyes, resettling myself on the banister as I did. "I never asked her exact age. Given how she responded to my finding her appetite amusing, I doubt I would have survived that question." Henrietta managed to break a small smile at the reminder of what had caused my once fear of lunchboxes. "But I do know that she had reigned for several dozen years before we met, regardless of how well she bore the years."

"But," Henrietta began, now starting to sound scandalized. "But you are still young, and it had been several years since you saw her…"

"I assume she was at least twice my age when the two of us met," I acknowledged, and now Henrietta was beginning to look a little outraged. "I've seen arranged marriages in this land that have even wider age gaps," I pointed out to her, defending Saber instinctively from the queen's mounting dissatisfaction.

"But in those cases it is the male who is older," Henrietta counter argued, now looking thoroughly outraged. "And they certainly did not involve a queen stopping so low as to take use their privileges to take advantage of a boy!" It looked like Henrietta truly believed that Saber allowing herself to form a relationship with me, whom had been much younger and of significantly lesser status to boot, to be the most offensive thing she had heard in a while.

"To be fair, I wasn't one of her subjects, so it wasn't like she was taking advantage of me," I defended, flushing lightly at the thought that Henrietta was considering me in the same light as one of those maids who were taken advantage of by the less scrupulous nobles who hired them. "And I can assure you that the feelings we shared were mutual." That apparently seemed to mollify the outraged queen a bit, so I continued, this time speaking in a sly tone. "And who knows. Maybe a few years down the line after you've been on the throne long enough to get comfortable you'll find yourself having the opportunity to maybe bestow a 'royal blessing' or two on a strapping young Chevalier yourself." I made my tone suggestive at the phrase 'royal blessing' and Henrietta blushed prettily at that, turning away quickly to hide her face.

"That would be inappropriate for one of my station!" she declared, sounding flustered.

"You're the queen," I reminded her. "You make the rules, so I'm sure you could find a way to make it properly appropriate." Her blush turned even brighter, and for a second I could literally imagine it lighting up the balcony. I couldn't quite smother the chuckle that rumbled out of my throat. I was a bit embarrassed when I realized that with Saber's voice it sounded disturbingly feminine in a way that was very unlike my straight laced Saber. I cleared my throat and continued. "Well, I hope that much at least helped you realize that no one, even a king or a queen is completely perfect."

Henrietta still looked embarrassed. If it was Louise, she would have by now switched over to cover it with anger, clenching her hands and puffing out her red cheeks. Henrietta instead had one hand across her stomach, supporting the elbow of the other which was covering her still flushed face. It was a completely different look, and it made the not-Louise look a great deal like Louise's older sister Cattleya for a moment. "I hardly think that a liaison whilst in a foreign land is quite comparable to nearly destroying her country and being the base of such terrible yet true rumors," she pointed out stiltedly. It seems that she still wasn't quite ready to be fully comforted yet.

I glanced down, and collected my thoughts. There was another story, one I hadn't shared yet with Henrietta, one that might help her in her situation. I wasn't sure if it was appropriate for me to tell it, and if Saber was here, I would never dare breathe word of it. But perhaps…

"During her reign as King, my lover, Arturia Pendragon, had to face several invasions of her lands, and led her army against that of another," I started slowly, my voice softer than it was earlier when I had been sharing happier stories of my Saber's reign. "When this would happen she would be faced with the responsibility of raising the treasury enough for her to pay for her soldiers and knights. Do you remember how you responded to such a predicament?"

"Yes," Henrietta nodded, her voice hesitant at the change in my tone. "By selling my own possessions I was able to alleviate the strain upon the people. Did Arturia do something similar?"

"No," I told her bluntly. "Instead, when she was faced by such a task, she would instead harden her heart, and destroy one of the villages in her kingdom." Henrietta gasped in shock, her eyes widening at the course of action that Saber had taken. I continued, not giving her time to speak up. "While doing so she would cannibalize every resource the village had. Every plank of wood was used, every animal of livestock, all the metal and tools were gathered for the army. Through this method, she would raise enough supplies and resources to support the army so that it would be mobilized far quicker than by raising money through taxes, or by selling her belongings like you did. And in the end, the method worked. By destroying one village, she would save the rest. One town would fall, and in return her country would survive."

"But," Henrietta whispered, her hand at her mouth in shock. "But what of those whom she took from?"

"One town would fall," I simply repeated, "and the country would survive. And so long as it wasn't their village, the rest of the country loved her for it." It was a philosophy very much in line with my own: to save ten, one must die. "But in order to do such a thing, she would first harden her heart. She would show no emotion while doing so, and set about her task without hesitation. The people saw this. And though she would give them victory over their enemies, and the soldiers would praise her for it, they would also whisper behind her back. 'The king has no heart,' they would say. 'The king has forgotten his humanity.' 'The king does not understand what it means for others to live.'" My smile turned cynical once more. I purposely did not look at my reflection this time. I didn't want to see Saber with such a twisted look. "To her face she was sung adulation, and behind her back she was offered venom. No matter where you go, this is the truth of royalty, be they king or queen. The best you can hope for is to accomplish enough that at least when they're singing they're doing it loudly."

"And yet she still continued?" Henrietta asked, her voice soft. She continued to lean beside me, the night in front of us seeming especially dark as we watched this. "Did she never doubt her course, or second guess her actions?" She sounded lost, and I wondered if it was because she was trying to decide if she should condemn my Saber for doing such a thing, or perhaps start emulating the one that she had once apparently secretly admired.

"Once," I admitted, lost in my memories as I did so. "Just once, she wondered if it would have been better for her to have never taken the title. Just once she wished that another had assumed the throne. That was when we met, when I summoned her, just as Louise has summoned me. We fought together attempting to retrieve an artifact that she believed would have the power to grant that wish. But in the end, when faced with the chance to use the artifact, she instead chose to resume her duties, and returned to her home." It was close enough to the truth for me not to feel wrong to present the story that way. There was no reason for Henrietta to know that I had summoned Saber from the aftermath of her final battle, that the Holy Grail had ended up a cursed thing capable only of destroying, and that when she had returned, it had been to her final hour.

"And even though she had taken you as her lover, she still left to resume her rule?" Henrietta asked, glancing up at me through her eyelashes, watching me carefully.

"She had the chance to stay," I admitted. "But it would have been the same as abandoning her duty." She had lived her life as a King, and she had chosen to die as one as well. "In the choice between love and duty, your Majesty, not everyone chooses love," I told her softly. She glanced down, remembering a time, on a lake shore, when she had been faced with that choice, and what she had chosen then. "You are not Arturia, Ann," I told her gently. She looked at me askance again, her teeth worrying her lip as she thought about what I had revealed to her today. "In time, you will decide what kind of queen you wish to be. You'll learn how to rule your people, to manage your rebellious nobles. Already, your people love you for all you have done for them, for showing that you care for them and are willing to protect and nourish them. Don't be discouraged, just because the few that speak ill of you and are disloyal speak louder than the majority that wish you well and are faithful."

Perhaps it hadn't been the best of encouraging speeches, but I couldn't help but think that I had managed to give her something to think about at least. Henrietta continued to watch me, her face thoughtful as the silence between us dragged on. As her eyes fluttered over my face, studying my features, she finally broke into a small but honest smile.

"And again, as you have so many times in the past, I was helped by you." She placed on of her hands on mine, her palm warm against my knuckles. On either side of us our empty wine glasses stood, reflecting the soft moonlight gently. "I have another confession to make to you, Sir Emiya," she continued, watching me closely as she turned to face me directly.

"Oh?" I asked, suddenly noticing how close the two of us were standing, and moving to back away a bit. Her hold on my hand stopped me from doing so, and she placed her other palm gently against my cheek. I flushed lightly, and my mind wandered to a time not so long ago when we had been this close, to a time in a warm room, to a shared moment of intimacy. Suddenly, the night air felt twice as warm as it had a moment ago. "What might that be, your Majesty," I asked, my throat suddenly feeling a bit dry. Maybe I should just run away, I mean run over, and get some more wine…

"I have thought of you often, since the time when I slept in your arms," she told me directly, her voice soft and her expression sincere. "On the days when the lists of the dead would come to me in the palace during the war, I would often pour over them, hoping not to find your name amongst them. When the last list came, with 'Shirou Emiya' the last entry of the war, I could only feel sorrow that my petty grudge had cost you your life, a sorrow that was compounded with guilt when I learned that it had been your life that had saved my country. When I had learned that you still lived, it felt as though a second sun had risen in the sky, that everything was suddenly much brighter and more beautiful." Henrietta smiled at me, no doubt in her features while she confessed these things to me. "I do not know if these feelings are love, or if they are right, but I cannot bring myself to not feel them." She slowly began to lean in, and inch by slow and tortuous inch I felt her body press against me till she was embracing me, one hand still caressing my cheeks.

I swallowed hard, in the panicked recess of my mind a small part of me wondered if I was wearing the same expression Saber had when Rin had swept down on her in the broken cathedral to start preparing for the prana exchange ritual. "Y-y-your Majesty," I began, my voice sounding high pitched even in its currently female incarnation. "I thought I told you not to rely on me for such duties?" I managed to get out in a nervous rush. I should break away. I should calmly remove her arms from around me, make a polite excuse, and then run like I would if it really had been Karin that had found me earlier.

Instead, all I could do was gulp down a lump in my throat, and try not to faint.

"Not 'your Majesty'," Henrietta chided me softly, her lips moving closer to mine, her eyes half closed as she leaned in. "Regardless of what tomorrow brings, right now I am neither Henrietta, nor Arturia. Just as you are neither Shirou nor Whales. Tonight, we are just two strangers whom have met at a ball."

Her lips found mine.

For a moment I could do nothing but stand frozen as they moved against me, lips soft, and then I found myself responding. Root damn it. For a second I forgot that I was currently in a female form, or that the one that was kissing me was disguised as my Master. I forgot that the one I was embracing was a queen, one who had lost her own love the same way as I had mine. I forgot that I was on a balcony at a party and that anyone who could walk by would see us.

For a second I could only remember just how long it had been since I had been with another, and just how warm the body pressed against me truly was.

Time disappeared. There was only the feel of a woman pressed against me, of the noises she made as my hands roamed across her body, the feel of her breath as it brushed my cheek. I stroked her hair with one hand, the other sliding up the front of her white dress, bringing forth a soft gasp as it moved to cup her full breast, and I adjusted my neck as I leaned down over her….

Wait just one Root be damned second. White dress? Full breasts? On Louise? And weren't we about the same height a second ago?

I broke the kiss my head snapping up as I looked down at the two of us. Henrietta let loose a discontented mewling noise as she tried to pull my head back down and get my hand to resume what it had been doing on her chest a second ago.

"Ann," I pointed out, confused. "The disguises are gone."

"Hmm?" Henrietta moaned, opening her eyes and looking up at me in slow confusion. She realized what I had just said, and then looked down to confirm it. "Ah!" she gasped, and then backed away a few feet, flushing in embarrassment. We both glanced at each other, and then blushed simultaneously, turning away so we could begin straightening any clothing that might have gotten mussed in our impromptu make out session. Internally I cursed myself. Stupid. Stupid stupid stupid! What the hell are you doing, Shirou?

"Beloved? So it's true!" a voice reached the two of us, and both Henrietta and I froze. Oh no. Root, I swear, I could still slaughter the innocent. Don't think I won't…

With the slow movements of a man being forced to the gallows, I turned to see what I was dreading. Sure enough, standing in the doorway to the balcony, with wide joyous eyes and clasped happy hands in front of her and she stared in delight at the two of us, was Kirche.

And she wasn't alone.

"F-f-first two women? Then Sir Emiya and her Majesty…" Guiche whispered, manly tears of admiration running down his face as he gawked. Beside him, Montmorency had one hand clutching his ear and the other hand reared back as though about to swing something down on his head while she stood there staring, her face as white as a sheet.

I swallowed as I saw who the fourth witness was.

"Kissing the queen? Who needs a maid when they have a queen? White picket fence? What white picket fence? Just have a castle instead. A castle with a white picket fence? Impossible! Who needs a dog named Wonwon? Just get a griffin, or a dragon. A dragon named Wonwon?" Siesta was standing , the shattered remains of a serving tray in her hands where she had apparently snapped it in half after having seen me with the queen. In her other hand, improbable yet still there, was a frying pan.

I kept my eye on that frying pan even as I tried to figure out what had happened. If I had to guess, I'd say that Kirche had probably managed to locate Guiche and Montmorency during her ongoing search for Professor Colbert and myself. Probably at some point they had stopped to talk for a bit, and Guiche had most likely noticed myself and the queen out on the balcony; probably when it looked as though we were both female and in the midst of certain activities. That would explain why it looked as though Montmorency was trying to hit him. I attributed Siesta's presence and the broken tray to her probably trying to collect our empty glasses.

I cleared my throat, purposefully not glancing at Henrietta. Well, at the very least this was definitely going to help those rumors about the two of us along.

"But why have the disguises failed? Surely it is not late enough for the ball to end so soon," Henrietta murmured, probably trying to use that little detail to help her focus on something besides what we were just doing.

"Perhaps there were some problems with the mirror?" I suggested, jumping in on that particular plan. It didn't look like our little audience was particularly concerned with that tidbit at the moment. I began to pick up on several disturbed voices being raised in the ballroom.

"The Mirror of truth! Someone has shattered it!" I managed to make out one of them more clearly than the rest.

My eyes narrowed. It was probably nothing. Maybe someone had just gotten overeager to find out just where the queen was, or had been desperate to know just who they had been flirting with earlier.

Nonetheless, it didn't hurt to be cautious.

"Siesta," I said suddenly, my voice a little sharp. "Do you know where Louise has gotten off to?"

"Kissing the queen? Taking special orders from the queen? Servicing the queen? What kind of service is that? Obey her orders? Any orders?" Siesta continued to murmur, the frying pan in her fists shaking in a very unnerving manner. I told myself that no, it wasn't slowly being enveloped by a darkness from beyond the ken of mortal knowledge. I decided that I probably wasn't going to be getting any information out of her for the moment, and that it might be a good idea for me to vacate the premise soon. Still, I looked around, trying to see if I could locate my Master somewhere in the crowd.

Behind me, from somewhere in the nearby forest, the still night outside the party was shattered by an explosion.

*Scene Break*

I was over the railing and streaking towards the gates of the academy before the first explosion even finished rumbling. Idiot. So sure of the security of the academy, so unnerved by your own doubts that you didn't even consider the possibilities of the disguises concealing an infiltration? Were you so busy kissing the queen that you didn't even consider what it meant that you were separated from your Master? I cursed myself a fool a half dozen times with each step as I raced towards the gate. It might have been shorter to just make a straight line towards the series of explosions that was even now continuing, but that would take me through one of the tall walls. Scaling a barrier of that height would take me even more time, and just cutting my way through would probably fail against whatever magical protections the castle might have.

With one hand on Derflinger, milking the speed the Gandalfr granted me, I poured od into my legs, speeding my pace till I was probably little more than a blur as I raced through the gates towards the forest where my Master was fighting. I would have to slow down once I reached the shadowed tree-scape, but with my body strengthened appropriately against twisted ankles and my eyes sharp enough to make out pitfalls it shouldn't be that much of a delay…

My momentum forwards was halted the moment I cleared the gate as I was forced to dodge or face impalement by a wave of needle sharp icicles.

Standing before me in the clearing that surrounded the walls of the academy, placed between me and the forest from which the explosions have ceased to come from, was a shadow of black and blue in the night. With staff raised and a wall of icicles already primed for her next volley, was Tabitha.

"What are you doing?" I growled at her, my voice hot with anger at finding my path impeded. "Get out of my way, Tabitha."

The little blue haired slip of girl's only response was to launch her spell at me.

Drawing Derflinger, I weaved my way through the onslaught, circling around the suddenly hostile girl and closing in on the forest that was my destination. I didn't have time to stand here and talk about whatever insult I had apparently unwittingly delivered to the usually somewhat friendly schoolgirl. I could sort it out appropriately when Louise was safe from whatever threat had confronted her.

The moment the flurry of needle sharp cold death lessened I took my eyes away from Tabitha and focused entirely on the forest I was nearly at. It was only thanks to Derflinger's sudden sharp cry of, "Partner!" that I managed to turn my head enough to see her next attack.

Somehow, despite the insane speed I was holding the powerful ice user had managed to appear next to me, staff pulled back as a single spear of ice formed there. I had to throw myself to the ground as the point of it shot past me and through the exact spot where my head would have been if it hadn't been for my last minute dodge.

Recovering my footing, I stood still, watching Tabitha as she once more put herself between me and the forest. This wasn't just her attacking me for some reason that I wasn't aware of. This was her deliberately interfering with me going to where I needed to be. For whatever reason, whomever it was that my Master was fighting, Tabitha was helping them. My teeth clenched together hard, and my reinforced ears picked up the noise they made as they ground against each other clearly in the dark.

"Why?" I grit out through my tightened jaw. This was Tabitha. The quite little blue haired girl, the one who was friends with Kirche, whom had fought beside me probably dozens of times by now, a trusted ally, someone whom I would have counted on to watch my back. This was the cute little master of Irukukuu, the girl who was frightened by ghosts, and the solemn giver of an oath to come help me if ever I needed it. Why was she doing this?

Tabitha gave me one word back as an answer. "Orders." And then she was moving again, and so was I.

Once more she formed a single dagger of ice, closing in at speeds the likes of which I hadn't seen on any other besides myself since my arrival in this land, and attempted to sink the deadly thing into my body. This time, I parried with ease, having been watching her attack and not being surprised by it. In return Derflinger drank the magic from the frozen blade, leaving scattered droplets of melted water behind, and then the talking blade in my hand arched out as I attempted to disarm the girl of her staff. With her insane speed she slipped around my attack as easily as I had stopped hers and riposted.

Back and forth at a speed I had never fought at before without the power of Gandalfr the two of us exchanged blows. It was a shock so bad I nearly dropped my blade when I realized just how quick the girl actually was. I had known she was a pro, that she was a veteran of many battlefields, but that she had such skill packed away into her tiny, nearly prepubescent body was a jarring thing to realize. How was she keeping up with me?

After a flurry of strike and counterstrike so intense it brought beads of sweat to my forehead, I figured out what she was doing. Her only powerful spell so far had been her two initial attacks. Ever since then she had done nothing but pinpoint strikes with single blades and at close range. Her speed and her sudden limitation on her offensive abilities were linked together. It was easy to forget due to her constant use of the element, but Tabitha's elemental affinity wasn't just ice. It was wind, wind mixed with water , but wind first and foremost. That was the source of her sudden increase in speed: I don't know exactly what spell she had found to accomplish it, but she was using her wind magic to boost her speed to a level where she would be able to keep up with me.

It made sense in why her attacks had been so small and precise: she simply couldn't muster the magic to launch anything truly powerful at the moment, not while maintaining her enhancement. Instead she was trying to attack me with small dot magic at close range and pinpoint accuracy. This girl was truly frightening in that she was willingly adapting the only tactic she could in order to fight me. If she had tried to overpower me from a distance I would have simply blocked, closed and beaten her. Even if she had brought Irukukuu so that she could hover in the air and rain death on me, I still would have been able to attack her with my bow. So instead she had done the only thing she could think of to keep the fight even: she had abandoned all defense and chosen to rely on her own skills in hand to hand. No matter that she was using magic, this was the equivalent of a sword fight now, and she was holding her own against a man who could wield a thousand blades and was blessed with enhancing runes at the same time.

If I wasn't so busy gritting my teeth and trying to see straight through my anger at this sudden changing of her sides, I would have admired the girl in front of me. This was a tactic designed to fight me specifically, one that took away all my greatest advantages and was quite possibly the only way that a mage of her level could manage to match me. This was a brutal method of attack, one that I think most of this world couldn't manage to defend against. This perfect overwhelming speed, combined with pinpoint attacks, backed by her own impressive combat experience and skill…

"An assassin's technique!" Derflinger whispered, a noise nearly lost in the sound of its blade cutting the air, just barely missing our enemies staff. I agreed. Just as Karin had instantly struck me as a guaranteed Rider class, there was no doubt in my mind that the class this blue haired dagger in front of me was anything other than an Assassin. And a damn good one at that.

Still, for all the skill she was showing, she was tiring. To hold whatever wind spell she was using was a drain on her, and each attack she used lowered her willpower bit by bit more. She couldn't keep this up forever, and as the fight dragged on she would grow closer and closer to losing her speed enhancement. I was using my own magic too, but only for reinforcement, my sword and the speed of my class were constant and needed no magic to uphold. Eventually, I would run through my reserves of od, but not for a good while longer after this girl had dried up.

And Tabitha knew this. Seeming to realize that her technique wouldn't be enough to take me down as it was, she upped the ante. An attack at my eyes, one like any of a half dozen I had already dodged suddenly shattered half way through the small distance between her staff and her target, the small and mildly sharp pebbles of ice suddenly pelting me in the face and around the eyes. Even as I closed one eye to protect it, turning my head to the side so I could half shelter the other while keeping an eye on her, I saw her staff dip low, its tip out of my limited range. With high speed, I disengaged, leaping backwards in two long jumps. Sure enough, an attack that would have found my groin shot past me.

With the now increased distance between us, we both paused, one of those unplanned for lulls in battle that both sides suddenly find themselves in. The two of us were sweating, and I found my breath a bit shorter than usual. With the calmness of a well practiced skill, I steadied my breath, letting my body recover. Across from me, Tabitha attempted to do the same, still silent. She met with less success. For all her skill, she just wasn't as physically fit as me. And so, still panting, she met my eyes as I glared at her.

"What are you doing Tabitha?" I growled again. "Get out of my way. Now."

A voice broke into the clearing, not the one of the girl who was breathing hard. "She can't do that!" the mocking proclamation declared. "After all, she is the Knight of the North Parterre; our loyal watchdog."

I glanced up, taking my eye off Tabitha to find the source of that voice. My lips split even further, and my growl turned feral as it did so. Hovering above the clearing, standing atop a strange looking creature with the glowing ruins that denoted it an alviss under her control was Sheffield. The dark cloaked woman was leaning forward, her expression alight with sadistic joy at the sight of two allies having to fight in front of her, apparently at the whim of her and her Master.

My eyes moved to her side, and I went absolutely still, my face clearing of all expression, the anger and rage I was feeling vanishing as though they was never there.

Standing next to the dark robed woman, eyes glazed and vacant, was my Master.

"Oh, this is marvelous! To see you have reclaimed your title, Gandalfr," Sheffield continued, her voice sounding exuberant. "My Master was so happy with our last meeting, having seen your skill! When he learned of your return as a Servant of the Void, he was positively ecstatic. So was I," she added the last bit on, her hand coming up to her rest across her cheek, which had flushed at her confession. "Please, I can barely control myself right now, but I'm afraid that I cannot yet be your opponent." She sounded genuinely distraught at the thought of not being able to fight me. "Instead, this child shall be the one you fight: a Chevalier versus a Chevalier, a swordsman against a mage. Please, put on a wonderful show for my Master and I."

The dark robed woman with daggered cheeks didn't even seem to care that she held my Master at her side as a hostage. The only thing that seemed to register to her was that she was about to have the chance to see me fight.

My eyes lowered till they were once more on Tabitha. She had taken advantage of the lull in battle to summon all her magic to her. It writhed around her, a strange mechanically wavering aura, like watching a bucket of gears and bolts made of ice being shaken. Appearing from the air around her were swarm upon swarm of deadly icicles, some no bigger than my fingers, others the size of my arms. It seemed like she had realized the futility of trying to continue her previous plan and was instead settling herself for one final confrontation, a final attack that would overwhelm me completely. It didn't matter though because I was about to

kill her

without fail. Before I had been half worried about her, my lingering feelings of affections for a friend and ally staying my hand from

killing her

but that didn't matter anymore, because my Master was in danger and the only way to protect her was to

kill her kill her now

and if that's what I needed to do, than that was precisely what I was going to do.

Tabitha lowered her wand and a wall of ice like an avalanche came at me. Derflinger in hand I shot forward to meet it. With all the speed and skill in my body I darted between the larger blades, Derflinger flickering to deflect the ones that could deal true damage to me, and my reinforced clothes deflecting the ones it could. Some of them managed to penetrate, piercing through my clothes and into my flesh, but they were few and inconsequential. Instead I focused everything on closing the distance between me and the blue haired mage so that I could

killherkillherkillher

There was no more need for words. As the last of the wall of ice passed me, with a sound like a dozen shattered glass panes mixed with nearly musical chimes from where some of the icicles I deflected didn't actually shatter when I hit them, I focused once more on the girl in front of me that I was about to

killherkillherkillher

as her eyes widened. Behind her she was already forming the second wave of her attack. It seemed she had expected me to dodge backwards or to the side and then call out some new weapon to defend myself with, or perhaps for me to attack from a distance. She hadn't thought that I would simply weather her strike and come straight at her. Her face was still mostly as expressionless as I was used to her, but her eyes told another story, one of fear as she stopped trying to gather more of her crystal javelins and instead launched what she already had at me in a tight stream of gleaming death as I closed in to

killherkillherKILLHER

but it was useless at this point. With the more ease than I had her first strike I wove through it, blocking, and dodging, and occasionally enduring another wound till I was in front of her as she desperately backpedaled. She hadn't had enough time to reestablish her wind enhancement, so she didn't have a prayer of escaping me. Derflinger howled through the air, cutting her staff into pieces, the force of it wrenching the two shattered fragments out of her small hand. It was almost in slow motion that I watched her cry out, falling to the earth as I brought my sword back for my second strike so that I could

KILLHERKILLHERKILLHER

and then move onto the other threat above her, my features expressionless as I tried not to think of how much I had enjoyed her company, the quiet moments we had spent together sitting side by side against Irukukuu as our friends laughed and shouted and made fools of themselves, of my promise to one day come to her aid just as she had mine so many times in the past because that would just make it harder when I had to

KILLHERROOTDAMNITKILLHER

Derflinger sliced through the air, meeting her form as she fell, and then it was silent in the clearing.

I stepped past her, dismissing her as I turned to focus on the enemy still watching from her perch on her puppet with my Master.

"Why?" a thin voice came from behind me. I didn't look back at her, not did I speak. It repeated itself. "Why didn't you kill me?" Behind me I heard a clattering noise as Tabitha's hands no doubt found her second wand, the one she kept stowed beneath her shirt, the one I had cut in two as she fell. Without them, she was no longer capable of wielding her magic, rendered helpless and at my mercy.

Why hadn't I killed her? Because I hadn't felt like it was the answer, the one I almost gave her, as callous as it sounds. I hadn't wanted to kill her. I should have. I could still finish her off without even taking my eyes off the target they had locked on.

But I didn't want to kill that girl.

"Go," I said instead. "Now." Go now, I silently begged. Leave this field of battle, don't try to resume. Because if you do, I could no longer justify letting you live, and I'll end you like I should have, and I don't want to kill you. Please Tabitha, just go.

Behind me there was a rustling noise, and then the sound of wind beneath large wings.

And then it was just me, my Master, and Sheffield left in the clearing.

"Impressive, Gandalfr," Sheffield laughed, staring down at me from her perch up high. "Such speed! Such skill! But you should have killed her, that child." She leered down at me, and I matched her expression with my own blank one. "Now she has failed, and those who fail need to be punished."

"Return my Master," I ordered her, ignoring whatever it was she was implying. It can wait till Louise was safe, whatever it was.

"Oh? My Master has ordered me to take your Master. Why on earth should I fail him as well?" She brought one hand up to her face, this time covering her mouth as she laughed. I couldn't help but wonder if she was bipolar or something. On one hand every time we meet she praises me shamelessly, speaking eagerly and respectfully of my skills. But once the battle begins, she does nothing but mock and cast disparaging comments at me. It seemed liked she regarded me highly only do to my status as a Servant of the Void, but at the same time felt that my skills didn't allow me to be at her level. "Whatever shall you do? Perhaps throw your weapon at me again?" She pulled Louise close, mocking me over her shoulder. "I wonder if you can attack me down there without harming your own Master, Gandalfr."

I made no change of expression as she blatantly used my pink haired little Master to shield herself. Instead, I sheathed Derflinger. Sheffield's eyebrows narrowed and she leered at me superiorly as she took my action to be one of surrender. They rose in curiosity as I put both hands out to my side as though grasping something invisible.

"I am the bone of my sword," I told her, "Steel is my body, and fire is my blood."

Trace on.

Her eyes shot up in surprise as the objects formed themselves out of nothing in my hands. With a much less certain look she pulled herself tighter behind my still insensate Master.

The thing that formed in my left hand was my bow, the impossibly long creation I used to launch my blades. In my right hand, a blade of gold and blue formed in my hand. Without hesitation, I knocked the sword. Sheffield seemed confused at my actions, no doubt wondering if I was about to do something as foolish and improbable as firing a sword from a bow. Her curiosity was no doubt compounded with wonder about just where the blade had come from. I could see her trying to puzzle if it was some kind of summoning skill, or whether I had crafted it from the ground like earth magi tended to do.

Her eyes widened in shock as the sword suddenly reshaped itself, a wave traveling from its tip to its hilt, reforming from something far too blocky to fly true to something aerodynamic and lethal looking. Without giving her time to react I drew, aimed and shot it with a whispered command. "Fly, Caliburn."

Caliburn, the first blade I ever traced, the original sword of my Saber, the one she had so long ago pulled from the stone in which it rested, the one which had sealed her destiny as King. Together, the two of us had wielded it, and with one stroke it had ended seven lives of the impossible killing machine that was the Berserker Hercules. A powerful blade, and one which I always treasured dearly in my memory, one I cherished for the memories it brought me of the first time I fought beside my beloved Saber. As a sword, it was powerful, and as an arrow it lost none of its power.

Sheffield had barely half a heartbeat to try and withdraw, sheltering her body behind my Master. On a moving target like one that was hovering up and down in the air according to the beating of mighty wings and fired as hastily as I had, the moving pale few inches of Sheffield's forehead should have been a near impossible shot. If it was any other sword, I would not have attempted the shot and instead have tried to find a way to ground the flying pair and separate my Master from my target first before attempting to kill that bitch Sheffield. But Caliburn was different. Caliburn was 'the sword that chooses'. In its legend it was the blade which chose the king, and the weight of that legend was apparent in its existence as a Noble Phantasm. When Saber and I had wielded it it had chosen the precise spot, the precise area to strike and unleash its power, a spot so vital and important that with one strike it had been enough to kill a beast like Berserker seven times over at once.

As an arrow, it chose its path just as carefully, and that path included Sheffield's forehead, and nothing else.

Sheffield shrieked in surprise and pain, and fell backwards. The strange flying beast wavered as the rune on its forehead extinguished, waffling in the air unsteadily. The bucking was enough to shake Louise, still unresponsive, lose from its back, and she plummeted towards the earth. I was moving the second my arrow had left my bow, dismissing the now unnecessary weapon as I raced to be beneath my Master.

With a soft 'thump' Louise fell into my arms as I bent my knees to soften the blow.

"Master," I asked her, my expressionless tone wavering in worry. "Master, can you hear me?"

"Munya," Louise responded, blinking her eyes. The glazed vacant expression cleared, slightly, and then suddenly she startled all at once, her awareness apparently returning like a switch being thrown. "Shirou!" she gasped, calling for me, fighting in my grip for a second wildly before realizing just who I was.

"It's me, Master," I hurriedly spoke up, reassuring her that she was save. She turned wide frightened eyes at me and froze, apparently not sure if what she was seeing was real. Hesitantly, she reached up and with two shaking fingers pinched my face.

"Yersh, it wreawwy ish me," I told her dryly as I endured her ministrations, my voice distorted from the pressure she was putting on my cheeks. That seemed to be enough for her and with eyes that were beginning to water in relief she buried her face in the crook of my neck, throwing her arms around my neck. She didn't make any noise, but her body shook a few times in relief. I ignored her silent tears, turning to walk back to the academy. There was no doubt going to be a few long explanations about why there was a dead woman and a broken down whatever the hell that flying thing was on their front lawn…

"What was that?" a voice hissed out, and I froze, my expression instantly blank again. Against me, Louise shook harder. "What in the Founder's name was that!" the voice started out in a hiss, and rose to a shriek by the end of it.

I turned around, not believing what I was hearing. There, still flying in the sky, the rune of control recovering to its full light, was the strange thing. And on its back was standing none other than the woman who just took a legendary artifact to the face and apparently lived through it. My eyes narrowed, not wanting to believe it, but not able to dismiss the truth of it. Sheffield had survived my attack.

Not without damage though, it appeared. She was hunched over, her hand pressing to her face as she twisted as though in pain. Apparently the blow had been enough to somehow cause her to lose her robe, perhaps while she was reeling from the pain. She wore some kind of skintight fabric on her torso that stretched down to her left arm's wrist. Wrapped around her waist, supporting her breasts but open in the front was some kind of black corset made out of stiff leather. Her right arm was encased in a shoulder length glove of the same material. Her lower body was only partially concealed with some kind of pseudo skirt loin cloth, the kind of dress that vaguely reminded me of those Chinese skirts that were open at both sides all the way up to her hips. Covering her legs up to mid thigh were high black boots. She was clutching one of her hands to the space directly above one of her eyes, right below where the runes of her class were burning brightly. I could make out a trickle of blood leaking down the side of her face, signifying that even if she survived, it hadn't been without injury.

How? How had she lived through Caliburn's strike? That sword could kill Berserker over half a dozen times! Nothing should be able to survive that! There must be a trick to this, some kind of deception. Reinforcing my eyes even as I prepared myself to flee and protect my Master, I studied her intensely, looking for any kind of hint as to just what she had done to live through a direct hit with Noble Phantasm to her forehead.

The answer revealed itself when I noticed something flake away from the hand she was pressing to her head. The motion of it caught my eye, and as I watched one of the rings she was wearing cracked, shattered, and then dissolved into dust. It was staring at her fingers that I realized that every one of them had a ring on it, some of them two. My eyes darted about her, noticing her wrists, her neck, her ankles, even her ears. Every one of those places was heavily laden with jewelry of all kinds and shape. Quickly, my eyes continued searching over her. At her waist, peeking out from behind the wide leather belt she wore cocked across her hips, apparently shaken loose during my attack from where it was normally probably concealed, was a length of cord strung tight with even more rings and jewelry. One in particular caught my eye and I stared at it, my stomach tightening.

There, hanging from the cord on her hips, was the Ring of Andvari.

'I am the Servant Myoznitnirn, the Mind of God,' she had gloated when we first met. The Mind of God who could use…

"Magical artifacts," I spoke out loud. Covering her body in every place she could place them, and most likely concealed even further in other spots beneath her clothes was a collection of dozens of magical items. If she could use each one of them with the same efficiency granted by her class as I could the weapons I wielded then it was no wonder she survived my strike. She must have been quick enough to raise some form of magical shield, or maybe she simply had one on her at all times and it had been enough to if not deflect my strike to at least cause her own head to ricochet backwards, saving her from being impaled at least. At least it seemed the strike was enough to cause whatever the ring was to shatter after blocking at least.

It seems she hasn't been the only one underestimating her opponent.

"What was that, Gandalfr?" the Myoznitnirn demanded of me, her face cycling between shock, fear, and a rage so hot it set my hair on edge. "What artifact was that? Why could I not claim it? Answer me Gandalfr!" she shrieked, nearly frothing at her mouth in her anger. She took her hand down from her head, tightening both it and her other into fists so tight that they were shaking. The blood from the wound on her forehead, a gash several inches long, poured freely down her face, dripping onto her full breasts as her clothes and hair began to billow around her in a sudden updraft. On her forehead, her runes began to glow with searing brightness.

I prepared myself to flee. When faced with this new information on her abilities combined with her sudden near berserker rage, my first concern was getting my Master somewhere safe, away from the battle that was about to start.

Even as I bent my knees, preparing to make my spring into the darkened woods in an effort to lose Sheffield, she froze suddenly, her eyes widening. As suddenly as it started, her clothes and hair settled back down on her. I narrowed my eyes, studying her sudden change in mood. Her eyes shifted between me and staring to the side with her head was cocked as though listening.

"But Master," she protested, "Is not now the best…?" her voice sounding pleading, like the whimper of a kicked puppy. It was such a sudden change in mood that it took me a moment to figure out what had happened. My eyes darted to her ears. It seems that somewhere amidst all those piercings was some way for her to communicate with her Master over long distances.

Whatever it was that her Master was telling her, it seemed it was enough to calm her. Her eyes settled closed briefly, and when she opened them her anger had disappeared. Rather than with her usual somewhat mocking or happy air, she was now watching me with the intensity of a hawk. It seems that whatever she had thought of me before, I was now a significant threat in her eyes.

I returned her gaze silently, my face devoid of anything. In my eyes, she was the same.

I suddenly knew, not suspected, not hoped, not worried about, just knew, that someday we would fight to the death.

The realization brought a cold smile to my face. Sheffield saw it, and her eyes narrowed further at my expression.

"It seems it is not yet time for us to properly fight," she said simply, and without another word she turned, and disappeared into the night.

"Not yet, anyway," I murmured, turning as well to take my Master back to the castle behind us.

*Scene Break*

_ As Louise lay in bed that night, her body aching from her own battle, however brief, with Sheffield before she had been captured, tired from the long and eventful day, Louise decided that she would have absolutely no problem killing that bitch herself._

_ It wasn't just because the doll user had managed to ambush her, beat her, and then use some kind of strange mind control on her. It wasn't just that apparently she had some kind of connection with powerful people, powerful people with an agenda that she couldn't believe to be at all good for her or her country. It wasn't just that Sheffield had apparently managed to force Tabitha to betray her friends. It wasn't even because her own Servant apparently REALLY wanted to kill her as well._

_ She was going to kill that bitch because she had totally screwed up her chance at hooking up her Servant and her Queen! She had seen what a good mood the two of them had at the party, she had gotten out of there to give them some privacy. By the Root, if what Siesta had been grumbling about was true, if that doll using dressed-like-a-hooker street performer hadn't shown up she was certain that the two of them would have ended up making good on the rumors they had made!_

_ If Louise were to try and articulate just why she wanted that to happen, she would have trouble doing so. She knew what Shirou was looking for. She supported it for that matter. She knew that her Servant's heart was forever owned by his Saber, and that he would never abandon her. She didn't think that by getting Shirou to be with another woman, he'd suddenly change his life and settle down happily to raise a family._

_ But she did think that he was far too hard on himself. She did think that he deserved some happiness in his life. And she also thought that if Saber ever tried to hold it against him afterwards, well then maybe the swordswoman should have not been so quick to leave him behind so she could go off and die. _

_ Louise knew that it probably wasn't Saber's fault in the end that she had done so, but Louise was feeling grumpy, and the absent swordswoman was an easy target for her to lock on as scapegoat._

_ Louise also honestly believed that if Saber loved Shirou even half as much as he did her, then she would want him to have some happiness in his life as well before he came back to her._

_ And just as much as Louise wanted her Servant to be happy, she wanted her queen to be happy too. And if the two of them getting a few hours of private time like in her books was what it took, well then, Louise would stand guard at the door herself to ensure they had the hours they needed!_

_ Despite her grumpiness, Louise felt herself falling closer and closer to sleep. She couldn't stop herself from giving a sleepy grunt as she rested in the arms of her Servant, her Shirou standing guard over her as she slipped into slumber. She knew that something big had happened today. Her enemies had gotten bolder, and had let slip clues today after they were thwarted. She knew Shirou was eager to start following those clues, and that when he found the ones responsible, the she and him were both going to be having a few pointed words with their counterparts, her with the other void mage, and him with the other Servant._

_ Tomorrow the two of them would start tracking down their enemies, starting with the clue named Tabitha._

_ But that was tomorrow. Right now, Louise was still recovering from her near abduction, the only thing keeping the shivers of fear from racking her being the arms of her Servant as he guarded her. And so she snuggled in deeper, and let herself fall asleep blanketed in the security he brought, dreaming once more of swords and battles._


	20. Distant Utopia: The Twentieth night

Hill of Swords: Distant Utopia: the Twentieth night

Author's notes: Well, as is becoming the tradition in later chapters, I will now take the opportunity to excuse the delay of my chapter by blaming three factors in particular this time. The first is of course real life. It's closing in on end of term and naturally there are all sorts of school related things which keep me from working on this piece. Curse you school! The second, is in this occurrence, Fable 3. That game is like visual crack, and I have no doubt that it has in some way devoured my soul. Curse you, Fable 3. Even now I can hear your siren call, begging me to come to the console. The third reason, which has actual relevance in this case, was writing itself. I have discovered just how hard it can be to write a dynamic character, especially when the character is being represented in the first person. Trying to accurately portray the emotions in this chapter being felt by Shirou was honestly difficult for me to work out. I hope I managed to do so in a way which is satisfactory, but once more I'm sending out the plea for responses on this one. Did I manage to, without adding spoilers, make this work?

Now, on to some chapter specifics. A lot of fun here with my two favorite characters to write, Kirche and Irukukuu. Not much action I'm willing to admit, not in the physical sense anyway. I will admit, to those unfamiliar with Familiar of Zero-verse, that I took a few liberties with the characters and plot here, mostly in regard to the Undine Knights.

Still, all said and done, I'm cautiously proud of this chapter. I'm eager to hear the reader's response, and please do respond. I think it'll help my writing in the future if you, the dedicated and loyal reader, give honest feedback, not just negative but also positive.

I will also announce that at the moment there are two more chapters and one extra planned for this series. I am, strangely enough, also considering writing a sequel. Well, not exactly a sequel. More like a series of expansions, detailing missing scenes and humorous omakes. One such would involve the Shirou and Louise from 'Hill of Swords' doing some world hopping. The first world would probably end up being 'Fairy Tail'. I'm interested if other people are interested in me doing that. On one hand, I plan to end this pretty definitively. If I do, then having expansions might detract from the general feel of the series. However, it could be a good opportunity for me to just have some fun with the characters I've developed and it might get you the readers a laugh or two. Let me know what you think on that as well.

And now, with no further delay, the next chapter. As always, if you enjoy it, let me know. If you don't, feel free to point out why.

*Story Start*

Guiche moved with surprising speed as he dodged the hard swing at his head, keeping his legs planted and refusing to give ground as he leaned back with a practiced and well balanced sway of his body. He swung his practice sword which he had taken to embellishing with little whorls of pseudo-engravings in it, a side effect of his adapting the wooden swords shape to a more falchion shaped weapon that he had come to favor, and it struck hard, just barely being deflected. With another quick move Guiche took his first step of the nearly ten minute long sparring session and with a mighty swing completely shattered the practice blade that had been thrown up to stop him, and plowed hard into the shoulder that the ruined weapon had tried to protect.

"Ah!" Malicorne cried out as the practice blade struck hard against his meaty shoulder. Ever since Guiche and I had started our 'remedial training sessions' after the ill fated first mission of the Knights of the Undine the knights had learned not to wear fancy clothes to meetings. It was because of that that the chubby young noble boy's shirt happened to be coarse enough not to get damaged, but I couldn't help but notice with a strange sense of fascination the way the well sized young man's flesh shook from the force of the blow. It was like watching a pebble being thrown into a pond, only the ripples were contorted to the boy's frame and partially concealed by the clothing he wore. It vaguely reminded me of a lava lamp.

Malicorne fell from the blow, releasing the shattered remains of his own practice blade as his entire arm went numb from the shock of the strike. I kept my eye on the fight, even as I parried a strike of my own with my right arm from Gimli while simultaneously sweeping the blade in my left hand behind me to defend from the strike by Raynold at the center of my back. The two of them were showing good teamwork, the much bigger Gimli recklessly swinging at me in order to try and lock my blades up while the slimmer Raynold circled behind and searched for an opportune moment in order to land a blow on me.

The day after the now infamous academy wide incident involving the ladies' bath, the females of the school had been out for blood. Some of the teachers were all for giving them it. In all the history of the academy there had never been a more severe breach of decorum. There had even been talk of expulsion for some of the responsible members. It was during this time that Guiche had stepped up and assured the school that as he was the captain of the responsible order, he would take it upon himself to see that all responsible members were punished accordingly.

Not a lot of the girls or teachers were entirely sure that this particular course of action would be at all severe enough, though in a surprising show of trust Montmorency had spoken up for him. The general consensus ended up being to give him a chance, and if the assigned punishment wasn't deemed suitable then the school would take over.

The next day Guiche turned me loose on the Order of the Undine. All of the order. Including himself. Practice swords only.

It took three weeks and I had to pay for the academy to hire the water mages in order to heal them all, but eventually they got better. It also had the bonus effect of changing most of the peeked on girls wrath once more into sympathy.

Even the teachers agreed that I might have been a little harsh. Still, it wasn't entirely my fault. The rules had been practice swords only. When a few of them decided to ignore the rules and use magic, well, then it should be fine for me to ignore the rules too and use real swords.

Those ones had been responsible for the recovery curve being three weeks and me being short some gold afterwards.

Still, that had been the turning point for the Order of the Undine. When everyone finally recovered and tried to resume the now established habit of drinking and partying, they discovered that Guiche's recovery curve, no doubt due to extensive experience, had exceeded their own and that he had used his few days recovering to draw up a training schedule.

Slowly, bit by bit, the order had been changed from a boy's club to what could potentially become an effective fighting force. Though when some of the members discovered that they would actually have to sweat to be a member they had dropped out. Still, that made it easier to remember their names now:

Guiche, Malicorne, Gimli, and Raynold.

See? Easy to remember.

It had taken a while for the numbers to whittle away to this point and during that time a system had more or less developed. I would handle the larger number of knights, allowing them to work on their teamwork skills, as well as gain genuine combat experience bit by bit without being overwhelmed. At the same time Guiche would handle smaller numbers. During his sessions he would take a much more personal approach than my own favored 'speaking is a sin' one. Using his own hard won experience figuring out his own skills while trying not to be beaten to death by me he would work with the individuals carefully, helping them sharpen their own abilities through observation, advice, and repetitive practice.

The end result was that every bit as quickly as I had earned the reputation as the company's disciplinary enforcer, Guiche was rapidly becoming known as the benevolent and well liked leader. It was a development that mirrored my own world's military organization: I was the hard assed senior non-commissioned officer, while Guiche was everyone's favorite big brother commanding officer. I guess it really was a system that worked.

Still, the hard work, painful bruises, and the absolute requirement that any member of the order would have to learn how to use the sword had torn away the dross that had been weighing down the order's effectiveness. There were only four current members, but they had proven themselves to be dedicated individuals willing to work hard to be a member of this order. Most of them had actual combat experience as well: Guiche, Gimli, and Malicorne had all participated in the campaign in Albion. Only Raynold hadn't, and apparently the slim young man had circumstances that compelled him to prove himself by lasting through the training. I didn't pry, but I had the feeling that Raynold might be a second son that didn't have much waiting for him after the academy besides a few years working in the sanitation division of the city trying to get enough gold to buy his own land.

In the end, both Guiche and I were satisfied by the turnout. The order was just starting, so Guiche was willing to admit that he preferred to take his time building it slowly, first establishing a training regime and core lieutenants before expanding afterwards. With Guiche being an earth mage, Gimli a fire, Malicorne a wind, and Raynold a water mage there was a lot of potential for the order to build a firm foundation for itself.

As I continued to block and lash out at my two opponents Guiche struck again at the downed Malicorne, catching the bigger noble boy a solid blow to his gut.

"Oof! Guiche! Not fair!" the wind mage wheezed out, his breath half driven from him. "I wasn't ready!"

"You should have been," Guiche scolded him, not unkindly. "The hit against your shoulder wouldn't have killed you, so you should have prepared yourself for the follow up strike." I kept half an eye on the unfolding drama as Guiche knelt down next to his rotund friend, rubbing his back slowly to help him get his breath back as I once more simultaneously parried two strikes from my opponents, and then whipped my wooden swords back at them simultaneously. The two blows launched like vipers, the one aimed at Gimli finding him solidly in his diaphragm, though Raynold managed to shift his weight enough to put his left bicep in the way of the blade aimed at his. Instead the force of it dislocated his off arm. I absently threw another strike at him, this time aimed at his forehead. One of the unspoken rules of the company was that if it wouldn't have killed you, then it was fair game to keep attacking. In combat there was no stopping just because you were hurt. The only time you stopped was if your opponent was dead.

Back when we still had more members this had drawn a number of protests. In response I had shown them my scars, and told them that if I had frozen up when getting them I'd be dead now.

We lost nearly half a dozen members at that, but the rest had taken it to heart.

Raynold leapt backwards as Gimli knelt on the ground, clutching his middle as he wheezed desperately the same way that Malicorne had a second ago, and now I split my attention between Guiche's match and finishing off the slim water user who was even now attempting to ignore his useless left arm as he tried to defend himself against my onslaught.

"Augh!" Malicorne half grunted and half whined as he finally managed to get enough breath back in him to complain properly. "This is discrimination! Why are you picking on the fat kid! I thought the order was beyond that kind of thing!" I'll give Malicorne one thing, he just had the perfect voice for whining. He appeared to have been almost as late a bloomer as Louise was proving to be, and at seventeen he was firmly caught in the throes of puberty, cracking still high pitched voice and all.

"No one is picking on your weight, Malicorne," Guiche scolded him, his practice sword disappearing as he assumed a dramatic pose with his rose wand once again. He still refused to part with his frilly open chest silk shirts no matter the number of them I stained with his blood, and when he wasn't facing me directly it paid off for him. One of the reasons he had been chosen as the head of the order had been that he was good looking. Now that he had acquired enough skill and muscle his pretty boy status was slowly evolving out of the 'useless fop' category and into the 'genuinely competent' category, and Guiche knew it as well. If it wasn't for the fact that this metamorphosis actually seemed to include the development of modesty the boy would probably be well on his way to being insufferable. "Indeed, you have seen for yourself how your body has proven a boon so far!"

"He's right," I confirmed from across the courtyard as I quickly and viciously started driving Raynold into a corner. He was holding himself well, despite the edge of panic that was beginning to form around the corner of his eyes. Seeing that there I began to hammer him harder. Panic was the beginning of desperation, and sometimes desperation could result in amazing feats. "It's like natural armor in its own way. Blows that would reach vital organs can be turned aside from sheer mass; like with bears. More than that, you have more mass already, mass which will be easier to turn into muscle as you work harder." It was a process that was already beginning to show itself in the chubby boy. He would never be the slim corded type like Guiche or Raynold, nor the tall and lean type like myself, nor even would he ever be the rippling muscle type like Gimli; Malicorne's body type was just naturally big, and the boy himself enjoyed eating far too much for himself to ever slim down. But forming beneath the padding he came with he was already beginning to enjoy the fruits of his labor.

If I had to make a guess it would be someday that Malicorne was going to be a genuinely large and intimidating figure. Considering his element, I found it almost ironic, considering the nature of his magic.

"Still," Malicorne pouted, finally regaining his breath enough to recover his footing as well, "It would be so much easier if I could use magic." His face got excited, his wide cheeks breaking into a grin that caused his eyes to squint. In front of me Raynold was running out of courtyard, but I had noticed that he had set his face as he did so. He was planning something. On my next strike, rather than block with his sword he instead threw his body to the side, and my sword impacted solidly into his still dislocated arm instead of his head. Clever boy, sacrificing his already useless arm. With his sword free he drove it hard and fast at my head, the adrenaline of the pain his arm making him faster than he was normally. It was his final attempt, the last of his strength, the move that would either make or break him this fight. I dodged it. He flinched as he realized his gambit had failed, and flinched even harder as he recognized what came next. I didn't believe in stopping so easily. There might come a day when he's in a situation where he's too wounded or exhausted to fight anymore and against an enemy that wasn't holding back because of that. Now was the time for him to practice his desperation techniques, to hammer out some way of turning the table or escaping. The smaller water user had done well so far, so I was looking forward to seeing what else he could accomplish. As Raynold prepared himself Malicorne continued in the background. "If I could just use my magic to speed me up like Tabitha…."

That was as far as he got before a panicking Guiche quickly hit him in the stomach, knocking the air out of him and shutting him up. Still it was too late. He brought up the taboo topic.

Expressionlessly I turned and walked away, dismissing the duel with Raynold without another word. Though Raynold gave a sigh of relief at being spared, both Gimli and Guiche both glared at Malicorne. The chubby blonde, still gasping for breath, gave them an apologetic look back.

"Well," Guiche proclaimed, recovering the quickest and speaking loudly, posing flamboyantly. "Why don't we take a moment to discuss our spell research while Raynold practices his healing magic?"

"Marvelous idea!" Gimli proclaimed, the big noble letting loose a hearty bellow of a laugh as he did so. He glared at Malicorne harder than the rest as he did so. It had started slowly, but it seemed that a combination of him actually seeing my combat proficiency himself and him coming to believe the rumors about Henrietta and I had eventually rendered him an even firmer admirer of me then Guiche was. At points his hero worship even exceeded the blond haired ex-fops, sometimes to the point where I was made genuinely uncomfortable by the attention. It reminded me of those creepy fan clubs that would sometimes pop up around Japanese high schools where fellow students would worship another student for being particularly good looking or smart.

It made me wonder if Rin ever had to deal with something like that, her being the princess of our grade back when we were both still attending.

The boys began working on the second part of the knights' training regime, one they all practiced solo for now except for Guiche. The idea was for them all to find some spell in their own elements that they could use in a combat. Working under the assumption that they would someday being using the same kind of sword wands that were popular with the other various magical knight classes they had to find spells that could be effective if cast in the middle of a duel. The three newcomers hadn't reached the point where they could actually cast while moving about in combat, but the quickest way for them to overcome that hurdle is to simply use the spells they had chosen over and over again until they could do them without needing to take their attention away from the fight itself. As they did so I made my way over to the small gathering of onlookers that had made it their own tradition to attend the knight meetings despite not being members.

Despite the fact that the female hanger on population had slowly dwindled down as we lost more and more members, there were a few that still persisted in attending. Guiche's three fan girls were prominent among them, apparently not yet having given up on their attempts to woo their new idol. Their presence pretty much guaranteed that Montmorency would regularly show up too. The blond girl was definitely more secure in her relationship with Guiche these days, but it didn't change the fact that she had a jealous streak a mile wide buried under her much cooled temper. Despite the fact that they were all competing over the same boy, they somehow managed to maintain a civil demeanor among them, which was something that managed to impress me slightly. Also there was Katie, the brunette that so long ago had been offering soufflés to Guiche, though now she appeared to have moved on, perhaps sensing the competition to be a little to fierce for her tastes. Instead she seemed these days to alternate her affections between Gimli and Raynold. Honestly, the girl just had an innocent and naïve air around her so her attentions came off less as amorous and more as admiration.

Originally I had been included in that attention, but two of the other regulars had thrown her off completely: Louise and Siesta. Siesta made it a point to attend me personally during and after each meeting, supplying me with towels and refreshments after each session. The only time Katie had ever tried to compete with the devoted maid over who got to feed me, well, I'm not sure what happened, but despite the difference in status anyone who for a second thought that Siesta wasn't capable of getting her licks in was an idiot. Louise had taken to attending the meetings more as an opportunity to take care of her homework and whatever research she was working on of her own outside and with Siesta's company so that my Master could be amply supplied with Siesta's truly magnificent tea brewing skills.

Too magnificent, actually. Recently I've had to step up my own brewing lest my time with the tea pot be further threatened.

As I approached to where my loyal maid had already prepared a small clean towel and a silver tray topped with a crystal goblet filled with spring water another more recent attendee of the little group made her presence known.

"Darling!" Kirche cooed, her voice warm as she launched a sneak attack at me from the side, embracing my head into her bosoms as she did so. Normally I would at this point make some kind of effort to get her off, but this time I ignore her. When she realizes that I intended to simply walk away, rather than do the sensible thing like let go she instead wrapped her legs around my waist. It threw my balance off a little, but beyond that I didn't let it stop me from heading over to where Siesta was now frozen solid and twitching minutely.

Kirche wasn't a regular attendee for the training sessions of the Undine Knights, but she had on occasion shown up to root for her 'Darling'. It seemed like she had some kind of complicated schedule detailing how she split her time between attempting to woo me and her other target, her 'Beloved'. The few times Professor Colbert and I had talked about it our combined efforts hadn't been able to determine the exact deciding factors that led her to choose which one of us she was going to try and seduce, and I think that was because the two of us were both keeping information back. After all, whichever one of us figured out her system first could manipulate it to free themselves at the expense of the other, and thus it was a partnership doomed to failure even before it began.

"Oh Darling, you were so skilled out there, as always," Kirche murmured, nuzzling her chin into my hair as she did her best to try and lodge my chin into the neckline of her shirt so that she could better trap my head between her breasts. "It's always such a thrill to see you handling two at once," her voice was heavy with innuendo, a deep, sensual, and seductive purr. "I can't wait for you to show me just what else you can handle…."

"Kirche," Louise grit out, from where she was sitting at the prepared table, a cooling cup of tea and a book of some kind in her hands. "I don't think you'll ever get to see him handling the things you want, so could you please at least attempt to show some noble dignity?"

Kirche turned enough to give my pink haired Master what I assumed was some kind of superior look. "Dignity has no place in love, little girl," the fiery redhead proclaimed presumptuously. "Ah, to feel my Darling's body so close to mine," she sighed dreamily, still nuzzling me. "It set's me on fire!"

This was apparently enough to break Siesta out of her statue impression. With a smile that made me look cautiously for a frying pan she took the goblet of water from the tray and approached me. With an innocent smile she then poured it over Kirche's head. "Ah!" the country maid pronounced innocently. "How clumsy of me! When you said that you were on fire, it seems my first response was to try to help put you out!" Siesta closed her eyes and smiled beatifically at the Germanian attached to me like a limpet. Something as disrespectful as that should have been enough to derail even the most unassuming of nobles. I had no doubt that that response was precisely what the maid had been hoping for. Unfortunately for her, it looked as though Kirche might be beyond the maid's ability to derail.

"Ah," Kirche sighed, her voice still sensual. "The cool of the water, tracing its way down my hot skin," she purred. "I can feel the droplets as they flow down me. Can you too, Darling?" she cooed. I had no doubt just what parts of her skin she was referring to as she began to press my head deeper into the valley of her cleavage. Siesta twitched again, and a sharp cracking noise emitted from the crystal goblet as it suddenly developed hairline fractures from where she had squeezed it a little too hard.

Louise sighed, and I heard a cracking noise from where the cover of the book she was currently mangling in an attempt not to reach for her wand as she her clenched fists slowly bent the wood bound leather that made its binding. My young Master had recently been trying to curtail her usual habit of squeezing her wand whenever she grew upset on my advice. Such an obvious tell for when she was on the verge of losing her temper was something I had cautioned her against. She had managed to stop herself from reaching for her instrument of destruction whenever she felt the need to unleash her tiny wrath, but as a result various other things that might find their way into her grasp had started to suffer. It was a work in progress. "Perhaps you could at least wait till after my Servant cleans himself off before you molest him further?" she suggested, her eyebrow twitching as she arched her back like an angry cat where she sat.

"Hmmmm," Kirche murmured, one hand removing itself from my head where it had been clutching me to her and moving out of sight. I assumed she was stroking her chin thoughtfully, but lacked the ability to tell for certain. I heard a snapping noise when the dark skinned redhead pronounced, "Aha!" Since I had been denied my chance to drink my water after my workout, I had been reaching for the towel to start drying my sweat when the limpet attached to me used her free hand to snatch it away from me without warning. When the two sizable masses removed themselves from my head, I glanced up to see what Kirche was doing, just in time to see her stick the length of cloth between her bosoms before she once more dragged my face into them. Now with the towel between her chest and my face she began shaking her shoulders back and forth, rubbing my head briskly. "There!" Kirche proclaimed happily as she continued to shamelessly motorboat me. "Now we can both dry ourselves!" She hummed happily, and whispered down at me as she vigorously continued her actions, "Our bodies, rubbing against each other, naught but the thinnest of garments between us…." She trailed off suggestively.

This was apparently the straw that broke the camel's back as the book in Louise's hands was quickly replaced by her wand. My little Master stood, her chair catching against the grass as it was pushed back by her sudden motion and nearly falling, and planted her free hand on the table with a resounding 'smack' noise. With her back still arched and her eyes clenched shut as she shook in anger Louise ground out, "Kiiirrrccchhhee…."

When Louise opened her eyes and turned to unleash her rather potent fury on my molester, she found me watching her carefully. Pausing, her eyebrow shot up when I gave her the briefest shake of my head. With a grimace, she let herself sit back down reluctantly.

Suppressing a grimace of my own, I ignored Kirche's enthusiastic gyrations and took a seat at the table myself. The other five girls, Montmorency, Katie, and Guiche's fangirl trio, hadn't even noticed the drama that had just unfolded beside them, too busy watching the rest of the Undine Knights practice their magic. I was glad for that much at least. Even I had to admit that Kirche was being far too outrageous lately in her attention.

I had a fair idea just why the Germanian was being so aggressive.

Kirche's second name was the 'Ardent'. She was a fire mage, and even more than that she was a Germanian. By her very elemental affinity and her culture she was one who wore her emotions whole heartedly, who delighted in and embraced her passions. Since most of her emotions tended to be amorous in nature, her responses were typically physical. And with Tabitha…

I suppressed a sigh. Tabitha. It just kept coming back to Tabitha.

The day after the small blue haired girl had turned upon my Master and me, I had begun my digging on just why the stoic girl who had promised to protect me would do such a thing. I had only needed one stop to find out everything. Everyone knew that Kirche and Tabitha were inseparable, the fire and ice duo. The moment I had described to the redheaded Germanian what had happened, she had been able to tell me just why it had.

It turned out that Tabitha was a princess of Gallia. Some time ago the king of that time had selected Tabitha's uncle, the current king, as his successor. When the former king died, the current king had decided to tie up loose ends. Tabitha's father had died under suspicious circumstances, taking a poisoned arrow from behind while hunting. Shortly after, Tabitha's mother had taken a goblet meant for the then even younger girl and drank it, and in doing so confirming what the mother had suspected: the wine had been poisoned too. Rather than the fatal effect of the poison that had claimed her father, the poison that took her mother had driven her mad, and made her helpless. After that, the small blue haired ice wielder had been ordained a Chevalier, and sent to accomplish an impossible task. It had been meant to kill her. Instead, the powerful young ice mage had succeeded. Ever since then the king had blatantly used missions to try and kill Tabitha. The more outrageous the mission was, the more certain that Tabitha would be the one who would receive it. The more impossible, the less resources she would receive. Things like stopping rampaging dragons, eliminating whole colonies of orcs, even something as outrageous as killing a semi-divine water spirit; through it all Tabitha had prevailed, and with each task got stronger and less easy to kill.

For her, failure wasn't an option, because the moment she did the young princess would be declared a traitor, and her mother's life, held hostage by her uncle, would be forfeit.

It was no wonder the girl was skilled. If it had been me, at her age, doing such things, then I doubt I would have made it as far. I was at least four years older than she was when I had my first taste of battle, and even with Saber beside me to protect and guide me, the times when I had nearly died were too numerous to label easily.

But it seemed now that Tabitha's success was over; she had failed in her appointed task to kill me. Instead, she had only barely escaped death herself. And if what Sheffield implied was true, then her superiors already knew, indeed, had even been anticipating. They would move against her now, had probably already had. It'd been four days since our confrontation.

Kirche knew this too. She was worried. There was no way for her to know the condition of her small stoic friend, and so she sought to gain relief where she could. And since Kirche was such a physical creature, that relief happened to be through jamming my head between her boobs and increasingly escalating innuendo.

Not that I could blame her. I was on edge too. It's just that instead of latching on to the nearest warm body, my own response tended more towards burying myself in sword play with the Knights of the Undine, and if that didn't work, simply locking my emotions down.

The other's had noticed this themselves, and apparently to a one had decided that it was more conducive to both theirs and mine well being if they helped me distract myself as best they could, hence why the knights' training sessions had been extended the last few days.

And so I sat, stone-faced and silent, accepting Siesta's tea when she finally managed to bring herself to serve me it despite the redhead who was trying to worm her way into mounting me where I sat. As the other four members of the Undine Knights continued to train, Louise gave me one final glance, worry plain on her face, before she wordlessly turned back to the book she was reading.

*Scene Break*

"Augh!" Malicorne groaned as he dragged himself back to the table where the girls and I were sitting several hours later. Gimli and Reynold were both in a similar state though were less vocal as they two felt the sting on their bodies' from the long training session. Only Guiche was still capable of moving around in a dignified manner, though he too looked exhausted. "Why is this so hard?" the chubby boy asked, his voice a desperate whine as he pleaded with the world at large.

Guiche took it upon himself to answer for the rest of the uncaring planet. "Because it is important," the captain told his subordinate, placing the hand holding his rose against his head as he posed. His three fangirls sighed happily, and even Montmorency turned a little red. "Even though we are an order of knights, we are still young and untried," the blond boy explained. "If we are ever to be taken seriously by the rest of the kingdom, and are to be considered equals to the other orders, then we must train hard and become strong."

"You're doing fine," I murmured, sipping my tea as best I could. Louise gave me a quick look at that. They were the first words I had spoken since I sat down and my Master looked relieved that I had apparently calmed down enough to come out of my funk. "I can assure you, there is no other order that trains as hard as you do." Except perhaps the Musketeer squad, but even then I had doubts that Agnes would employ something as vicious as 'The Shirou Emiya School of Hard Knocks' method of training. The blond swordswoman recruited only from a female population, and it would be hard to keep her numbers up if she scared them all away at first. She had to employ the slow build up method of training her soldiers.

Though it was possible that the Manticore Knights once used a similar method, but they most likely got rid of it with a sigh of relief the moment Karin had stepped down as the captain.

"See," Guiche proclaimed proudly. "When the time comes that our queen calls on us, we will show her and the world the true strength of the Knights of the Undine!" This seemed to give the still beleaguered three trainees a bit of heart, and they managed to look a little prouder as they sat down for the post training tea. Katie happily began helping Gimli and Raynold, splitting her attention between the two as she brought over cups of tea for the both of them. Guiche's three fangirls offered the blond swordsman a towel, a glass of water, and a cool compress respectively. It was almost amusing the way he walked down the line, taking each one without even seeming to realize what he was doing as he walked by them without a second glance. Montmorency's eyebrow twitched as she realized just how comfortable her boyfriend was with the three followers, and twitched again when she realized that she couldn't really yell at him when he didn't even notice.

"I have no doubt the queen will be calling on one of you quite often," Montmorency murmured spitefully, channeling her irritation to another target and glaring at me venomously.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I told her dryly. Her eye brow twitched, and Louise let out a strangled noise before burying her face in her book so the others would think it had been a noise of outrage at her Servant's indiscretion, and not the laughter she was really trying to suppress.

Not everyone in the academy was as put off by the events involving Tabitha as Kirche and I. In fact, most of the academy probably hadn't even noticed the quiet girl's disappearance. Outside of the small circle gathered right here, most of the school was finding the incident between Henrietta and I to be far more interesting gossip. I wasn't quite sure just what the rumors were saying, seeing as my presence was enough to make even the most ballsy gossip shut up instantly and pretend they had been talking about something else, but I had it under good authority that they were becoming more and more outlandish by the hour.

Well, at least something went right that night.

I purposely did not think of just what might have happened if it hadn't been for the mirror breaking when it did. Now wasn't the time for such things.

"Now, now," Raynold spoke up nervously, accepting a biscuit from Katie as he did so. The slim young water user had been proving over time to be the natural peacemaker of the knights. "I'm sure that things weren't as bad as you say they were," he supplied half heartedly, knowing that in all likely hood they probably were just what the other water user had been saying they were, but latching onto the plausible deniability that the costume ball had cast on the whole incident. There were of course some people who heard the rumors about Henrietta and I and simply dismissed them as two costumed students having a bit of fun role playing. Then again, there were also some who had witnessed the event themselves, and insisted otherwise.

"Exactly," Kirche proclaimed proudly. "If my Darling managed to awaken your queen's primal womanly desires, it's only to be expected," she continued, sounding entirely too logical for the topic. "Just because the two of them succumbed to heated, glorious passion, their naked bodies twining against each other, their desperate breathing growing quicker and quicker as they…"

"Kirche," Louise growled out, still hidden behind her book. The only part of her that was visible from behind the tome was her fingers, which were growing white as they squeezed the cover harder and harder, "please refrain from both discussing our queen's supposed 'primal womanly desires', and refrain even further from describing your twisted imaginations like that." The book was creaking audibly again. "It's unbecoming."

"Indeed," Siesta declared, her voice sounding completely polite as she used the tone she typically did when talking to a noble who was absolutely wrong about something but it would be inappropriate for a commoner to correct. "My Master has no use for such lewd things."

"Oh?" Kirche drawled, facing Siesta directly. "If he has no use for lewd things, then just why are you sitting next to me?"

Siesta glanced down at where she was sitting, which was namely my lap. When Kirche had proven an immovable object when it came to her latching onto me, Siesta had decided that instead of attempting to remove the redhead that the country girl would instead compete with her. The end result was that the two of them were both engaged in a not so subtle attempt to claim as much space on my legs and chest as they could. They both took turns trying to subtly force the other off of me, or slipping underneath the other as they battled on top of me for choice real estate.

It was kind of like watching a land war that might break out if two fierce tribes were competing over the same rare natural resource. It was also very uncomfortable, as the two's elbows or knees would frequently dig into sensitive places as they fought. It also made drinking tea very hard. Normally by now I would have knocked both of them off, but they were distracting, and honestly I could use distracting at the moment.

"I am simply seeking to protect my Master from unwanted things," the maid sniffed imperiously. Montmorency gave her an irritated glance at Siesta's presumptuous tone. The country girl had definitely become more used to being around nobles, and it showed in her attitude lately. Less and less had the dealings between maid and noble become Siesta just trying to avoid notice, and more and more she had been showing just vicious she could be. It seemed to bother the blond girl, but if the water user ever tried to bring it up Louise would shoot her down instantly. Siesta was Louise's friend, and my Master looked after her friends vigorously.

Kirche on the other hand didn't seem to mind the maid's growing confidence at all. Germania had different standards when it came to noble and commoner, their system being more meritorious in their titles and less traditional. Instead, Kirche seemed to find Siesta to be a worthy adversary, and whenever the two found themselves competing against each other over my attention, the redhead would treat the black haired girl as rival.

It helped that Kirche probably had no problem just sharing me with Siesta if it came down to it. I don't think the maid realized just how much of Kirche's maneuvering in this most recent struggle had been as much an attempt to claim space on the maid herself as it had been on me. Judging from the sly grins the redhead had given me when the maid hadn't noticed I think the Germanian was banking on me finding the whole thing so arousing that I just carried both of them off at once.

That girl really was something else.

Raynold sighed and backed away from the whole mess in front of him, metaphorically speaking. "This is a wonderful soufflé, Katie," he said instead, turning to the girl who had been serving Gimli and him food without a second glance over at the three of us.

"Damn right," Gimli proclaimed, laughing gregariously as he slapped the slimmer boy next to him on the shoulder. Raynold winced slightly as the blow apparently found a sore spot, but grinned back easily. Katie smiled and blushed cutely at the two of them.

"Oh!" she declared, covering one of her cheeks in with one of her hands in embarrassment. "Thank you very much!"

Montmorency glared at the three of them just as much as she had glared at me and my own female entourage. "Guiche," she snapped, turning on the blond boy who had been sitting next to her. "Why don't you ever let me cook for you as well?" she asked, her cheeks red. It looked like all the romance and rumors of liaisons had been bringing to mind her own love life. Guiche, who had been quietly enjoying a cup of the still warm tea that Siesta had prepared earlier, nearly spit into his cup.

"W-w-why, I just don't want a flower like you to have to worry over something trivial," he assured her instantly. "Why, even the thought of your precious fingers being smeared in such a fashion is an outrage to me!" He leaned over and clasped one of her hands with his, smiling at her comfortingly. Montmorency flushed again, this time more out of embarrassment then ire. She smiled back at him.

"That and he doesn't want to worry about drugs," Louise muttered from behind her book. Montmorency snapped a glare at her, and then turned narrow eyes back at her boyfriend, who was now looking innocently off into the distant, sweating nervously.

"Argh!" a sudden shout broke the impending fight up suddenly. Everyone gathered glanced over in surprise at the shouter. Malicorne had put both his hands on his head, pulling at his hair as he stood up, knocking over the chair he had been sitting in. "I'm sick of this! It's not fair! Why does everyone else have a girlfriend and not me?" he wailed as he began pacing.

"Malicorne," Guiche began, latching onto the change of subject gratefully. "The order is not meant to be just a means for the members to impress women. If we're…."

The chubby boy cut off the impending lecture from his captain instantly. "I know that! But it's still not fair! Guiche has Montmorency and those three!" he waved at the fangirls. It looked like I wasn't the only one who never bothered to learn their names. "Gimli and Raynold have Katie, and are both popular with the rest of the academy!" Katie flushed brightly at the implication that she was dating both the boys at once, and the two males looked at each other, and then both turned to glance to the side while scratching their heads in embarrassment. "And don't even get me started on you!" he hissed venomously, pointing a finger in accusation at me. Siesta and Kirche simultaneously leaned in so they could cuddle against me, and I cleared my throat and glanced to the side. I heard two snickers emit at that. One of them I was positive was Louise, and the other was most likely Derflinger. "Two women at once, another at the castle, and that whole inn back in the city!" We never should have taken the order to the Charming Faerie Inn. Really, that had just been adding fuel to the fire. "You just have women falling out of the sky for you! Why! Why can't they fall out of the sky for me!"

Right then, in what I instantly knew as a absolute proof in both the sentience of the Root, and that it was indeed a malicious entity that took joy from the pain of others, a naked woman fell out of the sky and landed feet first on the boy in the middle of the meltdown with a loud shout of "Kyui!"

Truly, there could be no other reason for this to happen than irony being one of the driving forces of the universes, even more so then gravity or thermal dynamics.

"Eh?" echoed almost simultaneously from every one present, the only two exceptions being Louise and myself.

"You know," my tiny Master began, carefully closing her book and brining one hand up to massage her forehead slowly. "I don't even have to guess. This is somehow your fault, isn't it Shirou?"

I sighed. "If it wasn't before, it will almost certainly be now," I admitted. I glanced over at the newcomer. She seemed to pay no attention to her nudity, and instead was glancing around curiously with wide innocent eyes, one finger pressed against her lips as she searched her surroundings for something.

It took me a second, but when I did recognize her I stood up instantly, dislodging a surprised Kirche and Siesta from my lap without a second thought.

"Irukukuu," I said, calling the blue haired dragon turned girl's attention to me. The blue haired dragon's eyes lit up.

"Big brother!" she squealed, clenching both her hands into fists under her chin as she closed her eyes in happiness. "Big Brother!" The naked girl launched herself at me happily, hugging me around the waist and nuzzling my stomach like a kitten in front of the disbelieving eyes of the rest. Louise started rubbing her forehead harder as she sighed.

"Every…time," Malicorne managed to sputter from where he was laying.

*Scene Break*

"So you are…?" Kirche began, her head cocked to the side in curiosity as she began the interrogation of the happily smiling blue haired girl in front of her.

"Irukukuu!" the dragon told the redhead, smiling happily at her. We had retired to the hanger of the Zero fighter, mostly to keep the rest of the school from walking by and seeing a naked strange girl standing around. Just as before when I had loaned it to Tabitha, my cloak had quickly been unbuckled from around my waist and now draped over the blue haired girl as she sat happily on a chair, kicking her feet in front of her like little girl. The rest of the Undine Knights were gathered along with the usual female entourage. Guiche was being the most polite out of the males, making sure to keep his eyes firmly on Irukukuu's face. This might have been aided by the fact that a glaring Montmorency was standing right next to him, one of her feet firmly planted on one of his and ready to stomp at any moment. Gimli and Raynold were both attempting to be gentlemen, but their eyes kept slipping down to where portions of Irukukuu's legs would slip free from the concealing decency of my cloak. Besides them, Katie was blushing in sympathetic embarrassment for the poor girl who had appeared out nowhere. She was no doubt thinking that something terrible must have happened for the unconcerned girl to be in such an underdressed state. Malicorne was simply staring at the dragon's chest unashamedly, smiling as though the greatest gift of the world had just been given to him.

"Well, we know that," Louise pointed out. She didn't look the least bit concerned about the girl's lack of clothing. She gave me a wry look. It seemed she had already chalked this one up to being entirely my fault and had settled back to see just what it meant. "We meant who are you and what are you doing here? And how do you know Shirou?"

"Irukukuu told you! Irukukuu is Irukukuu!" the dragon snapped childishly, folding her arms as she pouted. It was obvious the immature reptile turned mammal thought asking her who she was to be a pointless question after she had already told her name. "If Irukukuu wasn't Irukukuu than Irukukuu wouldn't have said Irukukuu was Irukukuu," Irukukuu grumbled. "But since Irukukuu had already said she was Irukukuu, then why do you keep asking Irukukuu if Irukukuu is Irukukuu?" The dragon paused, and put one hand to her chin again. "Kyuuiii," she mumbled, looking confused. "What was Irukukuu talking about again?"

"Ummm…." Louise gaped, obviously not prepared for litany she had just faced. Around the dragon who was scrunching her face up in thought as she tried to figure out what she had just said the rest of the group was now staring at the sitting girl in equal confusion. "Wait, what?" my Master managed to get out, looking completely out of her depths.

"Her name is Irukukuu," I supplied, palming my face as I decided to take charge. The presence of the dragon, more importantly, the presence of the dragon in her human form was unnerving. It meant that something had happened. "She's Tabitha's sister."

"Tabitha has a sister?" Kirche asked, sounding surprised. Irukukuu snapped her finger, beaming at me for explaining for her.

"Yay! Thank you big brother!" she cried happily, throwing her arms up in the air in celebration. "Irukukuu is big sister's little sister!"

"Wait, what?" this time it was Gimli who spoke up. "You're the little sister? Of Tabitha?"

"Kyuui! Yes," Irukukuu pouted again, crossing her arms and glaring at the big knight who looked confused by something. "Big sister is big sister!"

"But," Gimli managed to get out, his eyes seeming locked on the dragon's crossed arms and the feature they accented. "YOU'RE the younger one?" the boy managed to get out, sounding like he didn't know how else to put it without it being impolite but not able to resist asking. Around the room heads nodded at the question, even among the girls. I could understand their confusion. Tabitha for all her power still looked like she was closer to twelve than to sixteen. Irukukuu on the other hand looked significantly more, how to put it, mature.

Irukukuu pouted more, her cheeks turning red. "Big brother," she said to me seriously. "You should stop hanging out with weirdoes." Gimli flinched at the implication that he was the weird one in the group. "You should hurry up and marry big sis so that then you can feed me and scratch my head all the time!" Irukukuu leapt from her chair at this passionate declaration, pointing a finger at me as she decided my future.

"I'm back," a voice called from the door, sounding so sweet it would shame honey. Siesta stood there, carrying a big pile of blankets. When we had relocated to the privacy of the hanger, the maid had volunteered to get some clothes for the underdressed blue haired girl. It seemed she had managed to walk in just in time for her to hear the talk of marriage. I eyed her nervously as the rest of the room turned to stare at me.

"You? And Tabitha?" Montmorency muttered, cocking her head to the side as she tried to comprehend that thought. "But, you're so tall, and she's so tiny…" Beside her, Guiche nodded solemnly at that. I wasn't sure if he was doing it just to score points with his girlfriend or if he actually did think that me being with a little lolita like Tabitha was a bad idea.

"Now, now," Siesta declared, ignoring the room at large as she approached Irukukuu. "Young girls like you shouldn't be jumping around like that!" the maid scolded the dragon, who blinked as she was quickly put back in the seat she had leapt from. "Now let's make sure you're properly covered!" Without waiting for a response Siesta began to wrap a blanket around the now confused blue haired girl.

"Shirou and Tabitha," Kirche murmured, apparently trying to wrap her head around that. "Shirou and Tabitha," she repeated, and then her eyes lit up. "Shirou and Tabitha and me." The redhead smiled, apparently having decided that she could work with that. Siesta continued to wrap another blanket around the confused Irukukuu.

"Kirche," Louise sighed, rubbing her head. "Is now the time?" Without waiting for a response from the still contemplating redhead my Master turned to me. "Well?" she said simply, apparently expecting an explanation for just what was going on.

"She's Tabitha's little sister," I supplied, going with that story rather than explaining that the blue haired girl was actually an ancient and mostly extinct magical variety of dragon that just about everyone here had ridden on at one point or another. "I met her once by accident when she came to visit her sister. Tabitha prefers to keep her existence secret."

"A secret?" Guiche murmured, and then suddenly his face lit up with understanding. "Ah!" he gasped, pounding one fist against an open hand. When the other's glanced over at him, he looked quickly to make sure that Irukukuu was still distracted by Siesta who continued to wrap the confused dragon in blanket after blanket, and then tapped the side of his head meaningfully. The rest of the room looked confused for a second, and then a similar wave of understanding swept through them.

It wasn't an uncommon practice at all for noble families to, how to put it, keep certain branches of the family tree out of sight. Since most nobles tended to marry other nobles, at least in Tristain, there was a fair amount of intermixing between the bloodlines. As a result, sometimes you'd have what they would call embarrassing offspring from all the inbreeding. When a child that exhibited these traits was identified, the families would either carefully keep them out of the public eye, hiding their existences completely, or they would sometimes simply abandon them.

In other words they thought that Irukukuu was the simpleton daughter that Tabitha's family was concealing in shame.

Now that that was out of the way, I turned back to Irukukuu. The dragon girl had tilted her head to the side and was watching Siesta in confusion as the maid continued to wrap her tightly with blankets. By now the blue haired girl was firmly cocooned to the chair and was nothing more than a round lump of cloth with a head sticking out. "Irukukuu," I started, and the blue haired girl startled and looked at me, apparently having been so distracted by her imprisonment that she had forgot the rest of us were here. "Where's Tabitha?" I asked, my voice soft and expressionless.

Irukukuu was Tabitha's familiar. There was no way that the dragon would leave her master behind, not in times like these. The fact that the dragon was here now, without her accompanying big sister, could only mean something bad has happened.

At my question Irukukuu's eyes lit up. "Ah! Oh noes! Big brother! You have to help big sister!" The blue haired girl tried to leap to her feet and succeeded in shaking the chair instead. Confused, the dragon girl looked down and only now seemed to realize that all the blankets she was now covered in had effectively tied her to the chair. "When big sister went home, it was all broken! Kyuui! And there were mean guards there! Kyuui Kyuui!" Irukukuu continued, still trying to leap to her feet and causing her chair to rattle around instead. Splitting her attention between the chair and me she continued to plead. "And then big sister beat the guards but her mother was gone! And then there was an elf, and he beat big sister and Irukukuu, and then Irukukuu woke up, and big sister and the elf was gone and Irukukuu came to find big brother so he can help save big sister! Kyuui!" The dragon girl had worked herself into a frenzy by the end of it trying to stand and apparently wave her arms around for effect. The end result was that she unbalanced herself enough so that her chair tipped back. With wide eyes Irukukuu let out one last, "Kyuuui!" before she toppled over, landing on the ground staring up. "Kyuuui," she said mournfully. "Big brother," she turned wide teary eyes on me. "Irukukuu has fallen and she can't get up…."

The room went dead silent for a heartbeat, and then Guiche whispered in horror. "Great Founder. An elf." Then he swallowed. Hard. I ignored the sudden pall of horror and dread that had descended on the room at that revelation and went to help the poor trapped dragon girl out of her blanket confines. I gave a Siesta brief look out of the corner of my eyes as I did so, though the maid didn't notice as she had joined the rest of the room in being frozen at the word 'elf'. The country girl had definitely developed a mean streak in her since she had gotten to know Louise better.

As I unwrapped the dragon girl she turned her pleading eyes on me. "Big brother," she begged me. "Please, save big sister! Irukukuu couldn't stop the elf, and now big sister is in trouble. But big brother is strong. He can save big sister. Please, big brother." Irukukuu let out a mournful 'kyuui' as she was slowly freed.

"Of course we'll save your big sister," Kirche said suddenly. The rest of the room, including Irukukuu and myself turned to stare at her. Gone was all hints of seduction and teasing from the redhead. The Germanian that stood in the room right now had more in common with the girl that had declared her hatred for the Dead than the usual passionate girl that we were all more accustomed too. Her face was set into determined features, and she held her wand firmly in one hand.

Louise was the next to speak. She gave the redhead a half smile, an expression she no doubt stole from me at some point. "Well, well, Zerbst. If you looked like that more often someone might mistake you for an actual noble at some point." Kirche gave my Master a flat look in response. It seemed that with her better half in danger the red head no longer felt like indulging in her usual banter. Louise continued. "But you're right of course. We will definitely save Tabitha." Louise put on her own determined expression, her wand also clenched in her hand.

"The Knights of the Undine will of course come to the assistance of your sister, Irukukuu," Guiche was the next to speak up. His own features were hardened as well. The fist holding his rose wand was steady.

"For the sake of a pretty girl like you, I would fight even an elf!" Malicorne was the next to add his two cents to the mix. It seemed that his reasons might have less to do with noble altruism and more to do with trying to score points with the blue haired girl in front of him. It made me wonder if he'd be less willing to include himself if he was made aware of the fact that Irukukuu wasn't human.

"Ha! Maybe this will go better than the knights' first mission," Gimli laughed, though it sounded a trifle forced. He looked like he was willing to join in as well, though he looked a great deal more nervous than the rest of the volunteers.

However, as the rest of the room began to leap to the fray, Raynold and I both stayed silent. Irukukuu noticed, and she looked at me in confusion, finally free from her bedspread bonds. "Big brother?" she asked, sounding nervous at my silence. The rest of the room began to pick up on my lack of volunteerism as well.

Raynold was the one who spoke up. "You know what going to her rescue will mean, don't you? What we will have to face?" the slim water mage spoke up quietly. Gimli narrowed his eyes, surprised at what his friend was saying.

"An elf?" the big boy spoke up, frowning. "Well, we might have to face one," he admitted, and managed to disguise his nervous gulp. Elves, the immortal enemies of man, the eternal race, whose skills at war and magic far outshone even the greatest of what humanity had to offer. Elves, whom even armies would flee from if they had the choice. "Don't tell me that is enough to make you forget your chivalric duty as a noble and a knight?" Gimli continued, chiding his smaller companion.

Raynold shook his head quickly. "No," he said softly. "Not the elves…"

"Gallia," I supplied softly, drawing attention back to me. "Tabitha is a royal princess of Gallia, a niece of the ruling king. The king sent his own troops to capture her, even going so far as to bring an elf into it to make sure." The rest of the room seemed to realize just what that meant as I continued. "It's no secret that she's been a target for a while. He'll go out of his way to make sure she doesn't escape him, not now that he finally has a valid excuse to kill her. More than that," I glanced at the others from the corner of my eyes. "We are an official knight order, under direct command of the Queen of Tristain herself. If we're found interfering in the affairs of the country, it would be ground for war itself to break out." My eyes sought those of my Master. Louise's narrowed in response, regarding me carefully.

"If such a thing were to happen so soon after the last one…" Montmorency started, seeing precisely where this was going. Guiche grimaced, realizing the weight of command and the burden it represented for probably the first time since he accepted his captaincy.

"Such things do not matter to me," Kirche proclaimed solidly. "I am not Tristainian, nor am I a member of the military. If needs be, I shall simply do so myself."

"Wait, Kirche," Louise commanded. When the Germanian attempted to whirl on my Master to tell her off Louise simply continued, her eyes still locked on mine. "You'll need time to gather supplies anyway. We'll take this to the queen, and get her permission to go on this mission first, maybe even gather some support while we're at it." Kirche didn't look happy at the delay, but did seem satisfied at the implication that Louise was going to do this anyway.

"So big brother is going to help?" Irukukuu asked, sounding confused, and worried, and hopeful at the same time. She had remained kneeling on the ground draped in my cloak and with her legs sprawled out to her sides, me still kneeling next to her.

I smiled at her, and put my hand on her head comfortingly. "Like my Master said," I told her gently. "We will save your sister."

Four days ago, I had nearly killed her master myself. I would have done so without hesitation. I should have done it. She had been an enemy, one who stood between me and my Master, one who might have cost me Louise's life from the delay of fighting her. More than that, if my Master goes to rescue her, then she will be putting her life in danger. Not just from the Gallian army or the elf, but from the void user and his Servant. It would be far safer if Louise stayed here, far away from the danger with me protecting her. Our going might even be enough to start a war. It would be safer for all involved, if we simply let Tabitha died. Her death would protect potentially hundreds. One dies to save ten, that's the rule. The girl who had fought beside me, whose company I enjoyed, whose familiar I had befriended, who I had promised to save not too long ago, and whom less than a week ago I had nearly killed myself was just one life in the face of many.

And now I might be lying to her familiar, right before I abandon her to death.

When did I become this Root be damned wretched?

Irukukuu's eyes lit up in joy. It was like a dagger of ice burying itself further in my already cold heart. "I knew it! I knew big brother would save big sister!" the blue haired girl crowed happily. I tried not to let my smile be brittle. "Irukukuu knew she could count on big brother! Just like big brother knows he can count on Irukukuu not to say…."

"No! Master! Get down!" I shouted, desperately throwing myself across the room. I tackled Louise, whom had been eying me with a blank look of her own before my sudden action, and I covered her body with mine as she squawked in surprise and indignation at the sudden manhandling. Frantically, I thought to cover both her ears and mine, closing my eyes and shielding hers with my body. She lay stunned beneath me for a few seconds, before she began to struggle, hitting me as hard as she could with no leverage as she tried to say something I couldn't hear. After a handful of moments I glanced carefully around the room, and saw that it was safe to let her out. My pink haired Master crawled out from beneath me, her face red in surprise and embarrassment as she kept hitting me with her small hands.

"Shirou! What in the Root are you…."s he trailed off, glancing around the room with wide eyes as she noticed the devastation. "What in the Founder's name just happened here?" she asked, completely confused.

Malicorne had fallen, his body numb and his eyes glassy with a goofy smile on his face. Beside him Raynold was making small strangled noises, his own eyes clouded as he apparently struggled to stay conscious. Gimli was shaking, not even noticing that Katie had apparently lost the strength in her legs to stay standing and was now laying limp across his lap. Across the room Guiche and Montmorency were holding onto each other, both as white as sheets. The three fangirls had joined Malicorne on the ground, lost to the world. Siesta, whom had apparently been folding the sheets she had used on Irukukuu had at some point torn one in half, both ragged ends clutched in her frozen hands. Kirche had turned as red as her hair, and had both hands over her mouth as she stood there trembling.

"Must…learn…to harness… this power…for myself…" Kirche managed to mutter, her voice laden with awe.

"Shirou," Louise grabbed my shirt and dragged me so my head was near hers, though she seemed incapable of taking her eyes from the room around her. "What just happened?"

"Something terrifying, Master," I told her solemnly. "Something terrifying."

"Kyuui," Irukukuu proclaimed, folding her arms and puffing her cheeks out as she pouted again. "Your friends are so weird, big brother!"

*Scene Break*

"Absolutely not," Queen Henrietta said firmly the moment my Master finished explaining the situation to her.

After the rest had managed to recover enough to have coherent thought after having been exposed to Irukukuu's weapon grade cuteness I had suggested to the blue haired girl that she go out and get Sylphid so that we could travel faster towards the castle. The moment the dragon was out of sight of the others and returned to her natural shape, Kirche had left to find Professor Colbert so she could appraise her 'beloved' of what she was about to do and probably sneak in some attempted happy time before she started gathering the supplies we'd need for the trip. Montmorency had left to help; with the supplies, not with the happy time. The rest of the Undine Knights along with Louise and I had mounted Sylphid, Malicorne in particular wondering just where Irukukuu had gotten off to, and made the trip to the castle. It had been getting late when we finally arrived, though Louise's appointment as a lady of the court saw to it that we would at least get an audience.

Not that that turned out all that effective apparently.

Louise seemed surprised by the decision of her liege. "But your Majesty," my Master protested, shock on her face as she did so. "Tabitha is a friend of ours, a long time ally. Many times in the past she'd been the one to help me complete my missions. If it hadn't been for her then the first time we went to Albion…." Louise trailed off, realizing that there were uninformed listening. Guiche nodded his head in confirmation, though Gimli, Raynold, and Malicorne all looked confused by the reference to some kind of important event.

"And this time she was deliberately responsible for an attack on your person," Henrietta countered calmly from where she sat at her worktable in an otherwise barren room. She still hadn't apparently recovered the royal treasury enough to start refurnishing the palace. "In doing so she perpetrated an attack upon my countries security." Henrietta had made her mind up on this one apparently. Her eyes were like daggers once more.

"So what are we to do then?" Louise asked, sounding like she was trying to hold her temper back out of deference for her friend's station. "Should we just sit here and do nothing?"

"No," Henrietta admitted, and Louise perked up at that, her eyes lighting up in gratitude. "Tomorrow I shall summon the ambassadors. After a thorough investigation into the incident I will send a formal complaint to Gallia." And just like that Louise's face fell.

"A formal complaint?" Guiche noted, and then seemed to realize that he had spoken in the presence of his queen without prompting and flushed lightly. "Forgive my impertinence, your Majesty," he continued, "but such a thing might take months, and would in no way guarantee the safety of our friend."

"Nonetheless, to do anything more would be to begin an international incident," Henrietta answered with a small encouraging smile to the blond swordsman. It seemed the queen wanted the commander of her personal knights to feel comfortable in her presence. I suspected she was hoping that Guiche would bring the same measure of success to his appointment as Agnes had. If it worked and she managed to sway over the younger generation of nobles, and more than that if they turned out to be competent in battle, then she would be well on her way to sweeping out the potentially disloyal old guard and filling her ranks with those who would obey only her. "If knights of my country, more over of my own house, were to interfere with the prosecution of a criminal in another country then the consequences could be dire."

"As we thought," Raynold murmured from where he stood with the other three members of the Undine Knights. "Such a thing could lead to war."

"But to do so would mean abandoning a comrade," Gimli pointed out, sounding troubled. He probably meant for his whisper to be directed only to the slim water user beside him, but most likely due to his natural gregariousness it was audible to the room at large.

"And it would mean breaking our promise to Irukukuu!" Malicorned declared in a similarly audible whisper, sounding like the idea of disappointing the girl who was naked when he first met her to be the most preposterous thing he'd ever heard.

"But is it right for us to risk our country, just for the sake of one person?" Raynold pointed out back. The water mage definitely had potential, both when it came to his combat skills and when it came to his intelligence. He'd seen the crux of the dilemma almost from the moment Irukukuu had asked.

Louise and Guiche could see the three wavering, and it looked like Guiche was also beginning to agree with the course of action that was being presented to him. I took it as a sign of his growing character that he did not look at all happy with it, but seemed to understand anyway. Louise on the other hand didn't look like she was taking it at as gracefully at all.

"But it's not right!" she ground out, looking like she was trying to control her temper in front of her queen. "It's just not right to leave her behind just because it's inconvenient, or might be hard." My pink haired Master had set her face into a mulish expression, crossing her arms as she did so. Henrietta seemed surprised to see Louise acting like this. It occurred to me that for all Henrietta's expressed admiration for Louise's willful nature, this might be the first time the queen had been the one this stubbornness had been opposing. Normally Louise was wholeheartedly supporting the queen's actions not opposing them. My Master turned to face me, the only one who hadn't spoken during the course of the meeting. "Shirou, help me convince her Majesty," she ordered me. It seems like she was banking on my connection with the queen or maybe my previously displayed political savvy to be enough to turn the tides of this debate.

It took Louise several seconds for her to realize that I wasn't saying anything, and when she did she shot me a surprised look. "Shirou?" she asked in a small voice. I folded my arms, bowed my head, and closed my eyes briefly, before locking gazes with her.

This was my Master's battle, not mine.

"Shirou?" she whispered again, unable to believe that I wasn't going to say anything.

"Even your Servant recognizes this for what it is," Henrietta spoke up, not ungently. "Please, Louise Francoise, just return to the academy. This information is enough for us to begin diplomatic actions."

Louise was silent in response, closing her eyes. At her sides I could make out her hands clenching into fists, her knuckles white as she did so. Then her eyes shot open, and she narrowed them at me. "Servant," her voice cracked like a whip, shocking the rest of the room; they had never heard Louise address me with this tone. This wasn't a girl addressing a boy, or a noble speaking to a commoner, or even a mage speaking to their knight. This was a Master to their Servant. "Answer me! What is your opinion on this subject?"

I answered calmly, my voice a bit distant, my own expression showing at best disinterest. "It is entirely possible that the enemy is aware of the importance of their prisoner to you, Master. It is most likely that after their failed attempt at abducting you they have instead decided to lure you in to a trap using your camaraderie with their princess as bait. Attempting to save the prisoner will only expose you to danger, Master. It is inadvisable to go."

"Sir Emiya," Guiche gasped, shocked at my callous dismissal of Tabitha's safety. I ignored him, still locking stares with Louise. She returned it back, looking so angry that she was about to spontaneously combust.

"And what of the safety of Tabitha? Or the country for that matter? Don't those come into your opinion, Servant?" Louise snapped back, and the realization that the only thing I seemed to be basing my judgment on was Louise's personal safety also hit the room.

"No," I answered flatly. I ignored the gasps or angry mutterings that that response brought out of the Undine Knights, though the queen herself looked unsurprised at my response. "They are of no concern to me. My duty is only in protecting you, Master."

"Then I order you to make it your concern," Louise ground out, her teeth clenched nearly as tightly as her fists at this point.

"It is possible that Gallia is attempting to use the girl in order to provoke a reaction not just to acquire yourself, but also in order to use the interference as justification to declare war, Master," I said flatly. Her eyes widened briefly as the realization hit her that I was right. "The countries involved are irrelevant to me. In this case, in order to prevent bloodshed and the potential loss of hundreds of lives, it is better to allow them to have the girl."

Louise was silent for a second, and then spoke, her voice a hoarse whisper. "That was the most cold blooded thing I've ever heard you say, Servant."

"No," I told her bluntly, "it isn't. This should be no surprise to you, Master." She glared at me, not understanding what I was saying. "I have told you before the price of salvation: for ten to live, one must die." Her eyes widened as she realized that this really wasn't the first time she heard me express these sentiments before. "That the one is one I know does not change the fact that her life will conceivably prevent a war that might end hundreds of lives. This has always been a crux of my ideals, Master."

It was just me and my Master now. There were others in the room still, but in the end they were unimportant.

"And so you would sacrifice your own friend even, if that is what it would take?" Louise demanded of me, stalking closer. She didn't sound angry now, just tired. Tired, but still determined to see this through to the end. Her eyes searched my face, taking in my features as spoke.

"It is no sacrifice that hasn't already been asked of me," I reminded her, my voice flat. "Or even of you, Master." Unspoken, the events at Saxe-Gotha hung in the air, a potent reminder of the fact that once Louise had been asked to die for her country, and had been willing to do so; a reminder that I already had died for them, once.

For a moment, Louise said nothing, and I heard what sounded like uncomfortable shuffling in the background. This clash of wills between Master and Servant must be an intense thing to bear witness too. Despite that fact, it seemed this battle wasn't over yet. Louise pulled herself straight, looking up into my eyes and spoke. "You still haven't obeyed my order yet, Servant. So far you have spoken only of your duty and your ideals; not your opinion. Well, Servant?"

My eyes narrowed, and my voice was less calm when I answered. "My opinion is irrelevant to this situation, Master."

"I'll decide its relevance after I hear it," Louise snapped back. "Now what is it, Servant?"

"What does such a thing matter, Master?" I ground out, my voice heated. "You know well by know that you need only give me commands. I hold no loyalty to this country or queen. If you seek to continue in your quest to save Tabitha simply do so and I shall obey."

"If you will obey my commands, then why don't you do so now," she snapped back, her own temper getting stoked by my resistance. "What is your opinion, Servant?"

With a growl I straightened and moved to turn away. "This argument is pointless, Master," I dismissed the conversation completely, focusing instead on seeing how the rest of the room was reacting to our little impromptu display of non-solidarity.

I made it maybe a quarter of the way around before Louise decided that she wasn't going to let me get away. Her small hand darted out, grabbed the fabric of my shirt at my chest, and yanked me back around to face her with all the strength her own combat training had given her so fast it nearly gave me whiplash. "This is an order, Servant," she told me, dead serious. "An absolute order, and if I had a command sigil I'd use it on you right now." I narrowed my eye in response.

"Then it's a good thing you don't have them," I muttered, "because to spend one on such a foolish order would surely have gotten you killed in the Holy Grail War."

I'm sure that if Saber ever got wind of that statement she would no doubt chose that moment to remind me of my own near use of one of the holy marks to keep her out of my bedroom. Saber could always hold a grudge like that.

"No, I don't have them," Louise admitted, "but I do have the promise of an unrefusable request." It took me only half a moment to remember our little bet on the night of the Ball of Sleipner. "And I'm using it now. What is your opinion, Shirou?"

Damn her. Damn my stubborn little Master. While I'm at it, damn all stupidly perceptive tiny overpowered female mages, and damn their ability to always ask the hardest things of me.

I let loose a slightly shaky breath, and then bowed to the inevitable. "I want to save her, Master," I admitted softly.

It was a foolish, stupid, and insane wish. It ran against everything I believed in, every precept I held dear to me, every duty I had taken as my own. It was obviously a trap, it would put my Master and friends at risk, it would involve facing an entire country, and it would endanger the lives of thousands. Just days before, I had nearly killed Tabitha myself. If I had, I would have felt no regret for it; we had been two enemies on the opposite side of the battlefield. She had been fighting for the sake of her mother, and I my Master. I would have held no grudge for her betrayal, even if I hadn't learned of her circumstances. Her decision would have been her decision, and I would have respected it, maybe even mourned her death for a bit afterwards. And now, by leaving her to her fate it might be enough to prevent even a war. It was a violation of everything I believed in, to save the many at the cost of the few; it was hypocrisy of the highest order from someone like me whom had enacted that belief many times before.

But it didn't change the fact that I had spared her when I should have killed her, and that some time ago in a dark ballroom I had promised her that I would come help her if ever she needed it. It didn't change the fact that I wanted to save Tabitha.

Louise searched my expression, her eyes tracing my features intently, before she finally let loose what sounded like a sigh of relief and released my shirt. Awkwardly I straightened, feeling my spine pop as it did so, and Louise seemed to realize the scene she had just caused and turned to glance at the wall, flushing. "Stupid dog," she muttered, sounding more embarrassed than angry. "Making your Master work so hard like that. No food for a week," she declared, still muttering. "You'll be lucky if you're ever allowed to sleep indoors again."

"What an unlucky Servant I am," I muttered back, "to have such a foolish Master."

"Ah," another voice spoke up, and both Louise and I turned back to Henrietta, who looked a little unnerved by what she had just witnessed. "Are you two finished?" The Knights of the Undine looked similarly disturbed. Gimli and Raynold looked shocked at my apparent ruthlessness, though Guiche seemed to be staring at Louise in awe over her ability to command me. Malicorne was staring at Louise too, though he was flushed and seemed a little fidgety. It kind of reminded me of the looks that Eleanor had given me when I had been at the Valliere Manor…

Okay. That's enough of that train of thought. I purposefully refocused all my attention on the queen instead. Now that my fierce Master had managed to force me to display my desire for this mission, the biggest obstacle was convincing Henrietta to give her approval as well.

"My apologies, your Majesty," Louise spoke up, taking the lead once more. "It seemed that my consultation with my Servant became more heated than I anticipated. I believe we were discussing the potential mission to rescue our friend Tabitha?" Louise had definitely managed to get something out of her lessons on politics that I had been trying to give her. She looked as though she hadn't just had a shouting match in front of her monarch, and sounded as though our confrontation had been nothing more than a brief polite disagreement.

I made sure my own face was schooled as well. It was time to support my Master to the best of my abilities.

"Indeed, I believe that might have been the previous topic," Henrietta murmured, her eyes like daggers. For all the suddenness of Louise and I's little conversation, Henrietta was no fool. I had already admitted that if my Master chose to ignore the queen's warning that I'd obey. More than that, I had just expressed my own desire to participate, so it wouldn't be just loyalty to my Master that would be forcing me to do so. "Though I also recall having already made my judgment on that matter," she reminded us carefully.

This time when Louise glanced at me, I spoke up. "Your Majesty," I began, "there are several matters which you have not yet taken into account."

"Those being?" Henrietta asked, regarding me steadily. Despite the fact that less than a week ago the two of us had very nearly breached all propriety and made good on the rumors we had fostered there was none of those feelings being displayed now. This was a queen speaking to an advisor, not a woman speaking to a man. It made me once more feel satisfied in my judgment of her mettle.

"The likelihood that Gallia has already launched a pre-meditated act of war upon your country, your Majesty," I informed her bluntly. The queen's eyes narrowed at that declaration, and Louise gave me a quick look to see if I was serious.

"Explain," the purple haired woman in white ordered. I nodded, and continued.

"During the confrontation in which the Servant Myoznitnirn assaulted and attempted to abduct my Master she referred to Tabitha as 'The Knight of the Northern Parterre; our loyal watchdog'. Are you familiar with an order of knights by that name, your Majesty?"

Henrietta's eyes narrowed as she searched her memory for where she had heard the title before. I hadn't known what it was when I had first heard of it, but then again I wasn't from around these parts in the first place. It had taken Louise and I two days of searching, and finally it had been Professor Colbert who had managed to identify the order. "The Gallian government names their Knight Orders after the flower beds next to which their barracks are located at the palace," she began, reciting as if from a half forgotten memory. "I can recall the Knights of the Southern Rose Parterre, and the Knights of the Eastern Lily Parterre." Her eyes narrowed even further and she went silent as she recalled the rest of the information she had no doubt received.

"Then what flowers grow in the northern parterres?" Guiche spoke up, reminding the Louise, Henrietta, and I that it wasn't just the three of us in the room. "And why would Gallia be after Louise?"

"There are no flower beds in the northern part of Gallia's castle," Henrietta informed her commander, ignoring the second part. "Due to the shadow cast upon them by the castle there is no light for flowers to grow there. Thus, there are no knights associated with the northern parterre."

"Officially, your Majesty?" I half asked and half pointed out.

Still somber the queen replied, "Officially."

"Officially?" Gimli spoke up, sounding confused by the conversation. Beside him it looked like Raynold realized that there was more going on here than he knew and looked as though he was trying his hardest to figure out just where we were going with this.

"There are rumors," I spoke up, glancing over to the four schoolboys as I explained softly. "Rumors of an unofficial order of knights known as the Knights of the North Parterre. If rumors are to be believed they are given orders from the castle which cannot be directly associated with the Gallian government."

"What do you mean?" Guiche asked, striking a pose as he did so. It looked like an unconscious action that he performed automatically when confused.

"Assassination," I told him bluntly, causing him to start. "Espionage, spying, blackmail, whatever it is that is needed to be done that cannot under chivalry be condoned." I gave the blond swordsman a cynical smile when he started to protest. "It has long been a province of government to employ such things when they have interests in foreign or domestic matters that they cannot be seen interfering with." I glanced at Henrietta, and she made no move to dispute my proclamation. She had once told me that she had been advised 'in politics, use any method available'. It seems that that proverb might have perhaps been used to justify other actions in the past that I would probably be happier not knowing about.

"Even if such an order did exist," and here Henrietta sounded as though she was leaning towards the 'believing they do' side of things, "How does this prove an act of premeditated war?"

"The Servant called Tabitha 'our loyal watchdog'," I explained. Henrietta's eyes widened as she understood. "Our, implying that her Master is most certainly someone who holds station enough to be able to consider an order of knights to be among their own possession, or perhaps one who is simply very loyal to their country. Even if they were simply of high station, there is no way they would be able to issue orders to a Northern Parterre without there being some kind of retribution for them potentially exposing a member of an illegal order for their own gain. If they are simply patriotic, then they would not have done so at all without orders themselves. Whichever the case, it is simple to imply that Myoznitnirn's Master is most likely in service to the Gallian government."

"Who is this Myoznitnirn, and why would their Master be of such concern?" Raynold asked, sounding like he was still trying to put it all together on his own and was discovering that he was still missing big pieces of the puzzle. He was. Louise's abilities with the void were still considered a state secret, and to reveal another user of the void in existence would almost guarantee that my Master's nature would be revealed. Henrietta and I ignored the question as the queen considered what I was laying out for her. What it came down to was that another country was doing its damnedest to either kill or capture what could bluntly be labeled as a valuable resource. Void magic had already been proven strong enough to change the course of one war. Now another country that already had a similar resource was trying to either capture or kill another country's resource.

"Indeed," Henrietta murmured contemplatively, and did not look happy at all. "I see." She straightened and continued to address me. "Nonetheless, this does not explain why I should condone an attempt to save one girl at the potential risk of losing Louise Francoise or to be seen interfering with the affairs of another country. Such a thing could risk both the security of Tristain, and goodwill throughout the world."

"It is important to remember that 'Tabitha' is just a pseudonym that she had taken while traveling abroad," I pointed out. "Her true identity is Princess Charlotte, a member of the royal family and not to far removed from the throne itself." Henrietta nodded, acknowledging my point. We had already informed her of what we had discovered about the attempt on Louise the day after it had happened, and thus the queen was already aware of that little tidbit. "Moreover, it is common knowledge that her father died under mysterious circumstances, her mother was poisoned, and her own life had been threatened at numerous times in the past. It is not such a strange thing if she were to have sought political asylum at some point in this country, now is it your Majesty? And since she had already requested such a thing and been granted it some years ago, Gallia's imprisonment of her could be considered an act of war. In fact, it would be your duty to see to the dispatching of troops in order to recover her."

"Truly?" Guiche gaped, trying to follow the intrigue. "Tabitha has requested such a thing?"

"I could have the paperwork drawn up and dated a year ago by the morning," Henrietta admitted to me, not acknowledging as Guiche turned to stare at her casual admittance to forging an important document casually. "But it doesn't change the fact that the risks of attempting to recover Princess Charlotte still far outweigh the potential gains."

"A princess who served for years in the Knights of the Northern Parterre, and thus has been exposed and has knowledge of countless dirty secrets of the kingdom?" I pointed out. "A princess with knowledge of the inner workings of the Gallian government, and could be used for information or intelligence gathering? Or could be used as legitimacy if war ever did break out, a way to sway troops dissatisfied with the current king to her side and away from theirs?"

The queen spent a moment regarding me with hard eyes. Then, it seemed almost in spite of herself, she began to laugh helplessly. I gave her a half smile of my own. "Yes," Henrietta managed to get out between her soft chuckles. "Yes, that would indeed prove valuable."

I glanced down at Louise who was still standing at my side. "I believe that I have convinced her Majesty to support your endeavors, Master," I informed her dryly. Louise had folded her arms and was tapping one of her feet in irritation, her face scrunched up in distaste.

"And just why is it that you claim you have no talent at politics again?" she asked me, sounding immensely put out by what she had just witnessed.

"Perhaps due to exposure in my youth to those of far more terrifying ability," I supplied, thinking back to the way Rin used to twist the world around her little fingers and suppressing a shudder as I did so.

"That was amazing, Sir Emiya," Raynold spoke up, staring at me in awe as he did so. I think I just earned more respect from the slim water user than all my displays of swordplay combined.

"Though I am still confused by many aspects of what I have witnessed, I concur," Guiche added his opinion as well. The blond was massaging his head slightly as he tried to figure out just how I had managed to convince the queen whom had been absolutely adamant at our noninvolvement just minutes ago to support our cause.

"However," Henrietta managed to get control of her sudden fit of humor enough to continue, "there are still matters that need to be considered. If Princess Charlotte can be recovered, then indeed she could be explained away in a way to refute any claims made by Gallia to the other nations, but only if she were to be recovered and convinced to support this ploy. Until such time as she has been returned, any action taken would still be seen by and large as an act of aggression. If you were to fail and be captured by the Gallian government, then it would fall on my head, as you are knights of my house."

I grimaced slightly, and when Louise looked up at me, expecting me to have an instant answer to this little dilemma, I could only shrug slightly. So far I'd only been analyzing the big picture, and pointing out the general outline of things. It was the same as in any fight, knowing an opponent, seeing their possible moves, anticipating and reacting to openings in defense and offense. I might be able to apply some of those skills to this situation, but my ability with sword play and my ability with politics were quite different. I could analyze well enough, but launching an offensive strategy when it came to manipulating people was another matter. I was just better at reactionary politics then offensive politics.

We puzzled over this dilemma as a whole for a minute before Louise finally came up with an answer. "You'll have to arrest us," she declared firmly.

"Louise Francoise?" Henrietta gasped at her friend's declaration. Louise just nodded, her face still scrunched up as she tried to fix the idea more firmly in her mind.

"If you arrest us and then we break out, if we're captured you'll be able declare that we were fugitives," Louise explained.

"But," Gimli protested sounding shocked, "but our reputations! Our families! Such a thing could be a stain upon our honor forever!"

"Indeed, Louise Francoise," Henrietta spoke up, sounding like she was considering the idea and not liking herself for it. "Such a thing would work, but…"

"It could provide some measure of protection for us as well," I pointed out, mulling the idea myself. "If we were captured you could announce our fugitive status and demand that the Gallian government return us so that we could face punishment in your court systems." Gallia might even be willing to do so, for a few of us anyway. I think it unlikely that if we were captured either Louise or myself would ever again see the light of day, but it might allow some of the other Undine Knights to be recovered.

"Even so," Henrietta murmured, sounding dubious.

Surprisingly enough, it was Guiche who decided whether or not we would follow through with Louise's plan. In one of the dramatic moves he enjoys so much, he strode forward so that he could kneel in front of Henrietta. "Your Majesty," he began, and it seemed that despite his usual flare for drama he was being completely serious. "If it is what is required in order for us to serve you and our country, then please, do not worry yourself for our status. You have created the Knights of the Undine in order to serve you in these troubled times, so please, use us in whatever manner you need. Even if it results in our dishonor, or even our deaths, the knowledge that we have served you to our utmost will be all we need to continue to hold our heads up high."

"Captain," Raynold whispered, shocked by Guiche's declaration. Slowly, the water user also lowered himself to his knees before the queen's startled gaze. Gimli gulped audibly once, and then closed his eyes and kneeled as well. Malicorne, whom had been mostly silent throughout the meeting, seemed to think of something that let him gather the courage to kneel as well.

Despite myself, I couldn't help to feel a mix of both pride and bewilderment; pride that these four whom I had a hand in training had proven to have the will and steel within them to make such a dangerous choice. And the bewilderment came when I realized that I just might have had a hand in creating what could quite possible end up becoming Tristain's equivalent of a black ops program.

*Scene Break*

"I can't believe I did that," Guiche muttered, looking as though he was going to be sick as he leaned against the bars of our jail cell. "I can't believe I did that." He had been repeating the same sentence for nearly an hour, sometimes interspersing his repetition with periodic hits of his head against the bars.

"It was magnificent, Captain!" Malicorne told him, nearly crowing. For some reason he had been almost ecstatic since we had been locked up.

"I can't believe I did that," Guiche just muttered in response, banging his head again as he did so. The chubby boy responded by throwing his arms around the blonds shoulders, dragging him away from his position with strange exhuberene.

"It was amazing, Guiche," the wind user reassured the earth user. "It was an act befitting of a hero, a patriot!"

"I can't believe I did that," Guiche muttered again, looking green around his cheeks.

"Just remember for why you did it!" Malicorne ordered the queasy boy.

"For duty that surpasses even honor, and the safety of the realm?" Guiche muttered, looking hopefully at his companion. Malicorne beamed at him.

"For love!" the chubby noble proclaimed. Guiche stared at him, not understanding what his friend was saying. "After we return in triumph, I'll ask Irukukuu to go out with me!" It seemed Malicorne had just revealed what it was that managed to motivate him to actually risk his life. I was almost regretting the day when he discovered that his interest was actually a giant flying reptile in disguise in human form. Almost regretting, but mostly looking forward to with great amusement. I mean, how often do you discover that your love interest actually had the soul of a dragon? I know something like that will never happen to me, that's for sure.

"I can't believe I did that," Guiche returned to muttering, apparently dismissing the other boy completely.

"And after you clean the entire toilet by hand, using nothing more than your fingernails and a handkerchief, I'm going to have you hang from the roof by a thin piece of rope and lick the outside windows clean," Louise told me, not even noticing the little drama unfolding on the other end of the cell. She was entirely too focused on standing above me as I kneeled in penitence for the scene we had caused earlier in front of the others as she listed more and more outlandish punishments she was supposedly going to have me perform. "And then you're going to wear Siesta's maid uniform and feather dust every corner of the academy," she continued, towering as best she could over my kneeling form. In actuality, I was only slightly under her eye level in this position, so she had taken one of the chairs and stood on it so she could properly tower over me. It might have been intimidating if she still had her cloak to add some volume to her shoulders, but the cloak of noble station and her wand had both been confiscated from her when we were arrested. Instead she just looked like a little girl having a tantrum. I barely repressed a snicker.

"What? What was that you stupid dog?" she growled, putting one of her feet on my head so she could stomp on me.

"Nothing, Master," I told her calmly. "Just recalling a time when it was I instead of you that would make demands of your opinions." I smiled wryly up at her, remembering my own lecture to her about following her heart in the musty back room of the Charming Faerie Inn. Louise froze, her arms folded and one of her feet planted on my head, before her body sagged. With a hop, she came down off the chair and sat next to me, leaning against the wall of our cell. I leaned back as well, and the small pink haired girl absentmindedly dragged one of my arms around her for comfort.

"What do you think will happen to us?" she asked, her voice small as she huddled herself into a little ball. For all her bluster, and all her willingness to volunteer, she was also a girl who was currently locked in her cell, without her wand or even her title to comfort her. She was about to set out across a country that would soon be actively hunting her as a fugitive, into another country where she will be hunted as an outlaw, and confront the entire might of that country in order to rescue one of her friends.

I gave her a small smile. "We will accomplish our mission flawlessly, leaving a trail of devastation in our wake as we cut down anyone who stands in our way, saving the princess and defeating her evil uncle, before returning in triumphant glory, and then quickly departing for parts unknown."

And I meant it. The course had been set, no matter how hard it had been for me to take it. We were going to save Tabitha no matter what, and I was going to protect my Master no matter what. It was that simple. It felt almost relaxing to have the sliver of doubt and worry that had been lingering in me since I crossed blades with the little blue haired assassin girl. Now that I had a goal, nothing else mattered except accomplishing it.

Louise gave me a weak smile, before swallowing and trying again. She looked more confident the second time as she leaned against me. "Yes. You're absolutely right," she murmured. Then she glanced up at me. "Wait, why are we going to quickly depart afterwards?" she asked me in confusion.

"If we run fast enough we might be able to escape before your mother finds us," I told her. Louise turned white as a sheet when I reminded her of that little tidbit.

"Oh blessed Root," she whimpered. "Well, now I'm not scared about the mission anymore," she said faintly.

"That's what I was hoping for," I grinned at her.

*Scene Break*

It had been several hours since we had been arrested. It had been decided that not all of the Undine Knights would be going on this mission. Gimli and Raynold had been sent back to the academy. Ostensibly it was because they had agreed to the queen's orders to not go to Gallia. The rest of us, officially, had refused that order and been arrested for treason. The details of just what kind of treason we had committed would most likely never come to light, but we had wanted a suitably terrible crime to our names to justify Tristain demanding our return if we were ever captured. If we succeeded, then we would be found innocent of the charges.

The real reason we had sent Gimli and Raynold back was so that they could inform Kirche of the situation. They were to tell the Germanian what had transpired here and help her gather any supplies we would need and wait for us at the rendezvous site. Our wands and my sword had been confiscated, though they were being stored in the guardroom right next to our cell. In a few hours, when the guards would be at their lowest numbers, I would display just how pointless it was to attempt to disarm me, render them unconscious, help my Master and my friends regain their wands, and then disappear into the night. From there it wouldn't be till morning till it was discovered we were missing, and we would be well on our way to accomplish our first unofficial mission.

Well, that had been the plan anyway. A few hours before the time when I was supposed to cut my way out of jail, the door opened and Kirche dipped her head in. "Hi!" she called, sounding as though she was on no more than a visit to one of her dorm mates rooms back at the academy. "We came to pick you up early!"

Guiche looked up from the cot where he had been laying, still mumbling to himself, and nodded. Kicking Malicorne, who had fallen asleep on another cot, he walked past the redhead listlessly.

Louise, rubbing her eyes from where she had fallen asleep against me, looked up at the redhead. "Munya?" she asked, apparently believing she was saying actual words. Louise had never been the most graceful of wakers.

"You're a bit early," I supplied as I helped my tiny Master to her feet while she blinked in confusion.

"Well, we got everything together early and decided to give you a hand!" Kirche beamed at me.

"We?" I asked, wondering if Gimli and Raynold had disobeyed orders and decided to come along anyway. Their task had been to remain at the school and begin spreading rumors. They were to find the biggest loud mouths they could and start talking about how Tabitha was actually a Gallian princess that had been forced to flee her country to save her life, and how she had been kidnapped back despite having been granted asylum. I had recommended they try talking about it at the Charming Faerie Inn, having already proven the place to be a great one to start rumors. These ones were even true.

"Good evening, Shirou," Professor Colbert said from the doorway where he appeared behind Kirche. The redhead let loose a squeal and latched onto the professor, who looked pained at the sudden proximity of one of his students. "When I heard that my students were in trouble, I decided to give a hand."

We began our trip to the guardhouse to pick up our gear. "Well, that's a noble sentiment, Professor," I began, "but are you sure it's wise to interfere? You could get in a lot of trouble for this." When I cleared the door to the guard room, I couldn't help but let out a low whistle.

There were guards everywhere. By my count at least thirty of them, all still breathing but knocked out on the floor. I glanced at the professor as the others dismissed the scene in front of them and started gathering their wands.

"I made an oath," Colbert told me, his face serious. "I will always protect my students to the best of my ability. No matter what." The tone of his voice and the expression on his face combined to remind me that this was a man whom I rated as highly as Karin on my list of people not to ever have serious quarrel with. Glancing around the room, I couldn't help but reaffirm that belief.

"Unreal," I muttered as I gathered up Derflinger. Kirche, who had been staying close to Colbert and myself preened.

"Isn't it amazing?" she cooed, latching onto the Professor and tracing little swirls on his chest with one of her fingers while kicking one of her legs back. "My Beloved is so strong, so manly!"

"Monsters," I muttered, looking around. "What is it with the land and its ability to breed monsters?"

"Now Darling," Kirche scolded as Professor Colbert winced at my proclamation. "That's no way to talk about Beloved! If we can't all get along, then how could we possibly share a bed?" She cocked her head to the side as she thought about what she just said why Colbert and I winced in unison. "Unless you two want to do angry sex…"

"Look at them," I told Kirche, changing the subject as we began to make our way out of the palace, Colbert, Kirche, and myself in the lead. It was easy to point out the 'them' I was talking about, seeing as Professor Colbert had apparently left a trail of similarly unconscious guards in his wake as he came to retrieve his students. "Isn't Colbert a fire mage, like yourself?"

"Yes," Kirche admitted, sounding confused by why I was brining that to attention.

"Kirche, he knocked them all unconscious with fire magic. Fire magic isn't known for good at rendering people unconscious," I pointed out sounding disturbed even to myself as I spoke. "Killing, yes. Unconscious, no."

"Oh yeah," Kirche admitted, looking at the bodies around us with a new eye, increasing her admiration for the man she was still latched onto. Colbert seemed equal parts unnerved by her proximity and driven to modesty by my back handed praise to his ability.

"Most of them don't even have burn marks on them," I continued, glibly, trying to tell myself that there had to be a perfectly good reason for just how this beast I was walking next to had managed to knock people out with fire magic without even burning them.

"But that's…" Kirche began to protest, and then realized I was right. "But that's amazing!" she crowed, nuzzling Colbert even harder now.

"Now, Miss Zerbst, perhaps now isn't the time for this?" the professor began to sweat, nervously trying to pry the redhead off him while maintaining our pace as we hurried to get out of the palace.

"Look, see there," I pointed at one unconscious one, and the blood flowing out of his ears. "Professor Colbert, did you use your fire magic to light the air next to their skulls with enough concussive force to disrupt their inner ears and knock them unconscious instantly?"

"Ah! You noticed," Colbert looked every bit as happy when I figured out what he did as Karin had when I had figured out her air lance technique. Well, actually, Colbert looked much happier, seeing as Karin's definition of happy was a great deal less expressive then most peoples. "It was something I've been developing since I left the military."

"And you did that to numerous targets at once, without giving them time to raise the alarm, or even making the explosions loud enough to give away your presence to the castle at large?" I started rubbing my forehead. "It must be something in the water," I muttered. "Monsters."

With that last mutter we were officially out of the castle. Moving quickly, we disappeared into the night. It was time to begin our invasion of Gallia.

*Scene Break*

_ Today, Louise thought to herself, was without a doubt the greatest day of her life. It represented the absolute pinnacle of achievement, the very highest regions of accomplishment. Was this what it was like when a mountain climber scaled an impenetrable peak? Or perhaps when a craftsman puts the final touch on a piece of art so beautiful that they know no other piece will ever be able to compete with the sheer mastery they had unleashed?_

_ Louise made a mental note to always remember this day, and to celebrate it in some fashion in order to memorialize it every year for the rest of her life._

_ It had taken a potential act of war, political intrigue, the betrayal of a close friend, months of hard work, an embarrassing fight in front of her queen and friends, an absolute command, and probably had some help from an apparently too adorable dragon that could turn into a girl, but Louise had finally done it:_

_ She had proven that beneath the layers of cold steel, unyielding duty, uncompromising devotion, and quite frankly inhuman at times qualities that her Servant had, deep beneath he still had a heart that could feel._

_ She knew just how hard it was for Shirou to have admitted what he did, that he wanted to save Tabitha. She knew it went against everything he believed in to risk the many for the few and to put Louise's own life in danger for his own wishes. She also knew that if she had simply said that was what they were going to do, then he would have done so. But for him to have admitted it out loud was proof that somewhere inside him there was still parts that weren't completely lost to battle, and cynicism, and cold unforgiving ideals not just to her but to himself as well._

_ Even if Tabitha hadn't been Louise's friend and comrade who had fought beside her time and time again for this alone Louise would have sworn to break down the gates of hell itself in order to rescue her blue haired stoic friend. _

_ They night they would use horses taken from the academy to get out of the city before the alarm was raised at their escape. And tomorrow they would use the supplies gathered by Kirche and Montmorency, whom had stubbornly decided to come along, to disguise themselves as they travelled. Then they would make their way to Gallia and begin their search for their missing friend._

_ But until then, Louise slept, warmed even more by the revelation of her Servant's humanity than by his arms, and dreamed of swords and battle._


	21. Distant Utopia: the Twenty first night

The Hill of Swords: Distant Utopia: The Twenty-first night

Author's notes: First off I'd like to apologize for a grievous oversight. I forgot to mention that last chapter's theme song was 'This Illusion' from the Fate/Stay Night soundtrack. Feel free to reread with that playing in the background. I'm happy to announce that this chapter's music is 'Sword of Promised Victory', also from Fate/Stay Night soundtrack. If you want to wait for the perfect moment to play it, it should be evident enough. Just wait for Shirou to be peaking in his badassedness.

Now, onto the quickness of this update. Whatever fiendish muse that had caused me to update so quickly in the earlier chapters and then abandoned me, well, it's back. And it brought several of its muse friends. And a keg. And then the whole lot of them went wild on me. I finished this chapter the day after the last one had been posted. And then I started writing the next one. I had originally planned on waiting a few more days before posting all three of the completed final chapters, but decided that in commemoration of my earlier insane pace to go ahead and put this one out before the last two were finished. I'm halfway through the next, but will not post that till I have the final chapter finished as well. I have my reasons for that choice, but if you're on the edge of your seat waiting for the conclusion of Hill of Swords don't worry. Trust me. You'll want the final chapter out as soon as possible after the next one.

Now, onto a few specific elements of this chapter. Be warned, *spoilers ahead*

Most of these notes will be concerned about elves. I was reviewing the source material and found that the elf fight in cannon was pathetic. Seriously. That was the best we could expect from an undying immortal race? Hence, I took liberties with it. I would like to point out that the liberties I took are actually not as great as I thought they would have to be. While researching aspects of F/SN I found a good number of parallels between the elves 'Ancient Magic' and good old Nasu's 'Marble Phantasms'. I go into a good bit of depth into that in the chapter. I'm sure that many of you will have certain opinions on my interpretation, and I invite you to express them, even if they're derogatory. I know quite well that this was a risky move to take, and I want the opinions of those of you who are more informed then me on just how i handled it. On this topic, once more, be it good or bad, please, let me know what you think.

As for the rest of the battle, well, this entire chapter was based around setting it up. I tried my best to make the elf into something more than a chance fore Saito (the original protagonist) to have a redeeming moment. I wanted something more than just a well timed void spell here. I wanted something akin to what an undying race could really achieve, so I did my best to make a fight scene worth the reading.

For those of you who like following Shirou's weapons, rejoice! There are two blades used here that are pure cannon Noble Phantasm. I did my best to allow them the opportunity to shine as they should. Let me know if I did them justice!

The final divergence from cannon, and I think some of you might enjoy this, was Louise's first original spell. I tried my best to give FoZ's lead heroine a chance of her own to show just how much she developed during Hill of Swords, and hope that I managed to please any of you out there who might have been hoping for just that.

The moment I finish posting this I'm going back to finishing the last two chapters. Considering how hyped I am, you can expect them to be finished soon.

For now, please enjoy the next chapter of Hill of Swords. If you enjoy it, let me know. If there's anything that stood out, good or bad, tell me about it. And now, on with the chapter.

*Story Start*

It was a scene of devastation the likes of which I found hard to attribute to just one person. It had never been a secret that Tabitha was strong. In the academy she was one of the few triangle class mages, even including the teachers. She had to have been at least line in order to use ice, which required two elements at least to form. But what was around me now as I strode the mansion at Orleans, the place where Tabitha's mother had been unofficially exiled while they tried to kill the young girl, was destruction that was on the scale of what I would expect of Karin.

"Tabitha did all of this?" Guiche muttered as he strode through the ruined parlor, occasionally stopping to finger the vicious gashes that had been torn through some of the walls.

Irukukuu, in her human form nodded, her smile bursting out of her cheeks. "Yes! Big sister is strong! Kyuui!"

"'Kyuui', she says," Malicorne whimpered, slumped over in despair. The day after we escaped I had had Irukukuu reveal herself to the others of the group. If she was going to be traveling with us, it would have to be in disguise. However, the truth is having a dragon in the group was just too important for the others to know. The knowledge that Irukukuu could protect herself if needed, or even fly us to safety if called on was just too critical for the others not to know. Most of the group had taken it rather well. I had been right though:

Malicorne's reaction had just been too hilarious to pass up.

"Until she came across the elf," Professor Colbert spoke up, ignoring Malicorne's mope fest. Since it had been revealed that he had no chance with Irukukuu Malicorne had lost a great deal of his motivation for this little quest, and hearing him whine had become so common in only the two days it took us to get here that everyone had already learned how to just ignore him. "Truly, the Ancient Magic of the elves is a terrifying thing to behold."

"Everyone keeps mentioning how terrifying the elves are," I spoke up, my eyes tracing the scars of battle as I did so. I was trying to put together what happened judging by the marks that were left on the terrain. So far I had only been able to find damage that had no doubt resulted from Tabitha's ice storms. I couldn't find anything that might indicate what magic the elf had used to subdue the blue haired assassin girl. "Are they really so scary?"

The rest of the group let loose almost synchronized shudders at the question. Standing near Professor Colbert and I Kirche wrapped her arms around her waist and shuddered. Professor Colbert just looked down, his face troubled. That set me on edge right there. If even a monster like him was nervous about them, then that was all I needed to know.

"Alright then, what's their magic like? You called it 'Ancient Magic', right? What makes it different from yours?" I tried again. Maybe it was just because I hadn't been raised hearing horror stories like they apparently had, or maybe it was just because the only elf I had happened to come across so far happened to have been one of the kindest creatures I have ever met in my life, but I really wasn't seeing just why the very mention of the species seemed to be enough to cause nightmares.

"It's because their magic uses the logic of the world." Surprisingly enough my answer didn't come from Professor Colbert, whom I had been addressing. It came from behind me at my shoulder.

"Derflinger?" I asked, surprised that the sword had spoken up out of nowhere. Sometimes it was easy to forget that the magic drinking blade was actually sentient. Despite the fact that it could talk, Derflinger was still a sword. It didn't think or react like a human did. The last few months had mostly been a routine of training and living normal school life, events which didn't seem to interest the blade that much. What did a sword care about starting rumors, or involving itself in schoolyard or even country politics? The only time it generally added to the conversation was when Louise and I were busy working on her void magic, providing stories or explanations from its time under the Founder Brimir. Well, that and whenever events seemed to spiral so far out of control that it couldn't stop itself from laughing at them. Apparently some of the situations I seemed to find myself in were so utterly ridiculous that the sword found the novelty of them humorous even after its six thousand years of existence.

"When human mages use magic," the sword continued, sounding serious for the first time since we left Albion, "they impose their logic upon the world, making the elements obey their will. However, Ancient Magic is different. Instead of opposing the logic of the world it uses it, changing it to the magic users will. What's stronger, partner: a human's will directing a fire, or the will of nature itself directing a fire?"

The will of nature instead of the will of the user? But that sounded like…

I froze, and broke into a cold sweat. "Derflinger," I said slowly. "Are you telling me that to use Ancient Magic is to be a wielder of a Marble Phantasm?" I shook my head. "No, don't bother answering. That must be what it is. Even if it isn't the same, it's close enough that it doesn't matter." I wiped the sweat from my forehead and let loose a shaky breath. "Marble Phantasms. Root be damned Marble Phantasms."

"Shirou," Professor Colbert spoke up, "What are you talking about? What are these 'Marble Phantasms'? Is that what your homeworld calls Ancient Magic?"

Recovering my composure I nodded slowly. "It sounds similar enough for me to say that. If it is, than that means I've been taking the elf threat far too lightly." I knit my brow in thought as I considered what this meant for the rescue attempt; if we were facing something like that than this whole task just upped its seriousness to another level.

"It seems like a rather silly way to call something so powerful," Montmorency muttered, sounding unsure. "Marbles? They're not very imposing at all."

"Indeed," Guiche chimed in, also sounding doubtful. "Are you certain that you are correct? Surely if your home was aware of such things they would give them names which are more suitable to their power."

"The name comes from the way the ability works," I informed them, as I continued to study the room at large with greater intensity. Depending on the abilities of the elf, there might be some kind mark to just how the creature used its powers.

A series of clatters from behind me drew my attention back to the others. It seems that Professor Colbert had dropped his staff at the same time Guiche had knocked over an expensive looking vase that had somehow managed to survive the battle, all while Montmorency had apparently stumbled over the leftover remains of an ottoman. The rest of the room was staring at me, except for Irukukuu who seemed to be more concerned over playing with what looked like a broken chair. "What?" I asked, my hand drifting to my sword as I searched the room for whatever it was that had startled them. "An enemy?"

"You know how Ancient Magic works?" Professor Colbert whispered, his hand shaking.

"Wait, what?" I asked confused by the response. "Don't you? Just a second ago weren't you about to explain it to me?"

"Nobody knows the specifics of Ancient Magic besides those who use Ancient Magic, partner," Derflinger told me and I glanced back at it, now definitely confused.

"But weren't you just telling me about it?" I asked the sword, my eyebrow knitted with puzzlement.

"Even Brimir never could figure it out completely," the sword admitted sheepishly. "He thought he might of, but even with the power of the void he was never certain whether or not he'd survive a battle with an elf, so he usually fled when he came across one."

"Well," I admitted, "If he was right about his suspicions then yes, I suppose I do know how it works." I turned away from the sword to continue my investigation of the room at large only to suddenly find my entire view filled with the flushed face of Professor Colbert. "Gah!" I yelped, stumbling backward. How in the Throne of Heroes did he move that fast?

"Shirou! You must tell me how Ancient Magic works!" the Professor declared, his hands lashing out like snakes to grasp one of mine. He fell to his knees in front of me, desperately clutching my captured appendage as he shamelessly begged. "Please! Please instruct this unworthy one!"

I swallowed slowly, trying my best to surreptitiously free my hand from his. "Um, there's no need to be so…." I froze as my other hand was captured. Glancing away from the bowing Colbert I found the other limb now to be in the clutches of Kirche. Her eyes gleamed up at me playfully as she started bowing the same as Colbert, though she made sure to pull my hand so she was holding it against her chest. "What are you doing, Kirche?" I asked, my voice strained as I tried to free myself.

"Just trying to make sure I'm near when Professor Colbert drags you away," the redhead told me saucily. She leaned over so that she was pressed against the professor who didn't even notice her presence as he continued debasing himself as though I was an idol of an ancient evil god and he was a cultist trying to use my power to strike down his oppressors.

"Um, Louise," I called desperately, looking for help to escape. "A little help here?" It seemed the pink haired girl was also curious but not to the same level as Colbert. My Master rolled her eyes and set over to start prying the two off of me, starting with Kirche.

"Sir Emiya," Guiche spoke up from nearby. He, Malicorne and Montmorency had also approached, though at a more sedate level. "If you know of Ancient Magic, then please, explain it to us. If we were to face the elf, it might be a matter of life or death for us." At least the blond swordsman had his priorities right. Whereas Professor Colber only seemed to want to know for the sake of academia, Guiche was trying to learn so he would know what to expect in battle.

"Well, the first thing to remember is that anything is theoretically possible," I started, and that seemed to be enough to get Professor Colbert to release my hand. I blinked and where a second ago he had been clutching me desperately he was now standing right in front of me, leaned over in intense concentration and clutching a pen to an open book. Kirche on the other hand continued to remain latched on, with my pink haired Master pulling her off.

"Anything is possible?" Professor Colbert prompted when I shook my head, trying to figure out how the man was just so Root be damned quick. "What do you mean?"

"Technically it's possible that lightning would strike the ground around us right now, or that a complicated series of meteorological events would cause a tornado to form directly around us, or that a small earthquake would erupt beneath us and cause a spike of rock to shoot out of the ground," I elaborated. "Any of these things could happen at any moment. It's just extremely unlikely that they would. A Marble Phantasm is the ability to cause things like that to happen with absolute certainty."

"Wait," Derflinger spoke up, sounding confused. "That's it? That's Ancient Magic?" Professor Colbert looked up at me with begging eyes, pleading with me to elaborate.

I sighed. "Well, in a nutshell, that's what it is. The actual mechanics of it are more complex." I rubbed my head, trying to figure out how to explain it. "For one thing, it's generally impossible for a human to achieve that effect. It's like you said, humans use magic by imposing their own logic on the world. The truth of the matter is that we, as a species, are too far removed from nature to truly understand it. I mean, when we're babies our parents have to warn us not to touch a lit match because it's hot, or to stay away from lakes or we'll drown, right? Have you ever heard of a baby animal doing something like that? Accidently killing themselves by walking into a fire or drowning? Even though they're not as intelligent as us, they still are connected to nature enough to know not to do something that stupid."

"And how does this connection to nature make it impossible for a human to use Ancient Magic?" Kirche prompted, sounding confused. Louise had managed to pry her hands loose enough for me to reclaim my own.

"When a human manipulates magic, they have to use their own logic to do so, like Derflinger said," I explained. "This logic is different from natures, so it is much diminished in effect. However, if something with a greater understanding of nature were to attempt to do the same thing their spell would be instantly more effective because its working with nature rather than imposing its own will on nature."

"That fits in with what we know," Colbert murmured, chewing on the feathered edge of his pen before dipping the point into the inkwell.

"So why do they call it a 'Marble Phantasm' in your world then?" Montmorency spoke up, seeming more focused on the name itself then the explanation I was giving. I suppressed a grimace, not just at the question but at the girl herself. Regardless of the fact that she was the only water mage of the group, and a skilled one at that when it came to healing, it didn't change the fact that she just wasn't a combatant. I didn't like her that much in the first place, seeing as she was the one among the nobles gathered who was still the most spoiled and self centered, and the potential of her being a millstone around our neck if we ever got in a fight only cemented my distaste for her presence.

"Let's say you were to have a jar that had one hundred black marbles and one white marble mixed up in it," I said, using the metaphor that gave the ability its name. "If you were to be blindfolded and reach in and pull out a marble you would have a one in a hundred chance to pick out the white marble. A Marble Phantasm is the ability to always pick out the white marble, regardless of how many black marbles there are. In other words the user of the phantasm isn't making a fireball or a blade of wind. Instead, they are causing nature itself to make the fireball or the blade of wind. It's when a creature is so connected with nature or the reality around it that it is in essence remaking reality to obey the creatures will."

"T-that's unreal," Louise stuttered, her eyes wide at my explanation. It seemed Derflinger admitting that even the Founder, the most memorable master of void magic in this world's history, being out matched by Ancient Magic had unnerved the girl.

"It's different, but it's also limited in its own way," I admitted, trying to reassure her. "A Marble Phantasm is limited in its effects to what nature can produce. And even then, they can't change reality permanently. Nature will eventually correct itself. Plus its effect is limited by the user's imagination as well. I mean, look over there," I nodded over at Irukukuu. The dragon had apparently collected all the pieces of the broken chair and reassembled them. As the rest of us watched she then happily sat on the now put back together piece of furniture. Naturally, it fell apart under her wait, causing the dragon girl to fall back to the ground with a startled 'kyuui!'. Malicorne sighed at the sight, looking forlorn. "Even though Irukukuu is changing reality itself right now to make herself into a human, it doesn't change the fact that she's very young by her race's standard, and, well, not to bright."

"Adorable, yes," Kirche nodded, watching as the dragon girl managed to right herself and began to reassemble the chair again, puffing her cheeks out in determination. "Bright, no."

"The problem is, just how powerful is the elf?" I rubbed my forehead in irritation. I had to ask, but it didn't change the fact that the question I was about to put out just couldn't be worded without sounding stupid. "I need to know: if you kill and elf, will it die?" The rest of the group glanced at each other in confusion.

"Shirou, pretty much everything dies when you kill it," Louise told me, speaking very slowly as though she was addressing a child.

"Indeed, Sir Emiya," Guiche added, sounding reluctant. "It seems natural that such a thing would happen."

I grimaced and closed my eyes. "In my homeland there is a species of creatures called the 'Shinso', the True Ancestors," I said flatly. "They are, for lack of a better way to describe it, the beings closest to true immortality. They are undying creatures whose connection with nature is so great and their natural power so vast that even if you were to carve them into a hundred pieces, they would simply be able to reconstruct themselves. If you were to burn them to ash, they would just regenerate from that ash." I opened my eyes, my face dead serious. "I already know that elves are pretty damn close to undying as it is. What I need to know is that if one is killed, will it die?"

My dark tone let the others know just how important this question was. Surprisingly, it was Montmorency who spoke up. "I remember hearing about some battles were humans managed to kill elves in the past. I think human's won at the Battle of Toule."

"But that was when the humans had an army of about fifty thousand and the elves only had around two thousand," Malicorne spoke up, his high pitched voice cracking, probably as much from nervousness as puberty this time.

"Five hundred," Guiche corrected, swallowing as he did so. "The number of elves was reported higher than it actually was so that the shame of such a close victory under such conditions would be lessened."

"So they can be killed," I breathed, not caring for just what the ratio was, sighing in relief. "That's all that matters."

"Amazing," Colbert whispered, scribbling away in his book. "If only humans could somehow manage to do such miracles."

I shrugged. "It's very, very rare, but with enough training or practice sometimes a human can change their own perception enough to perform if not the same then similar magic," I admitted.

"Really? What an amazing thing!" Colbert crowed, closing his eyes in blissful thought.

"Now, why don't we get back to figuring out what happened here so we can…" I started, getting ready to put us back on task when I was interrupted.

"Oi, partner," Derflinger spoke up, its voice serious. "There's something I have to ask."

"Oh? What is it, Derflinger?" I blinked in surprise. It's not like the sword to interrupt, or ask questions for that matter.

"Your magic," the sword said bluntly. "It's Ancient Magic too, isn't it?"

The room as a whole froze. The only noise was Colbert's book clattering on the floor when it slipped from his frozen fingers.

I was silent for a moment. "It's not quite at that level, but its closer than most humans ever get," I admitted flatly.

"W-w-w-what?" Louise managed to stutter out. Montmorency made smacking noises as her mouth opened and closed rhythmically without anything managing to get out.

"I'd wondered for a while now," Derflinger admitted, still serious. "If it were just a matter of you making swords like noble boy over there," Derflinger made a jiggling motion at Guiche who seemed incapable of doing anything besides blinking, "that would be one thing. If you were maybe enchanting them too, that would be another thing. But some of your swords are just too much. Like that one that you almost used on noble girl there," and this time Derflinger jiggled at Montmorency. "That one had awareness. You can't just enchant awareness."

"True," I admitted. "But like I said, it's not a true Marble Phantasm. My perception is different from most, but it's still too human to cross that line."

"W-w-what?" Louise managed to stutter out again.

I sighed. It looks like I was going to have to explain myself if I really wanted anything to get done here. "I told you before, Master," I addressed Louise directly, ignoring the rest. "By the standards of my homeland I am a complete failure as a mage. When I was creating my Tracing skill, I was doing the original projection skill wrong. During that time, and due to certain other factors, my skills strayed from that which would be considered magecraft."

"B-b-b-but," Louise managed to get out, "but how is what you do different?"

"Yes, Shirou," Professor Colbert enthused, book back in his hand and writing eagerly. "How is it different? Describe it in minute detail! Leave nothing out!"

"I told you before, Louise," I continued, ignoring the enthusiastic professor for the sake of my sanity. "I can recreate any sword I see. I don't think you realize the scope of what that means." I held my hands in front of me, as though cradling a blade that wasn't there.

Trace on.

"This is the sword that was wielded by the fifth person of the fifth squad that I attacked during the Battle at the Hills of Saxe-Gotha," I said, tracing the weapon. I detraced it and replaced it with another. "This one was wielded by the fourth guard we came across at your manor when we visited there." Another sword came out. "This one was wielded by the chief orc when we were cleaning out the Temple of Brisingamen." Another. "The second lieutenant of the Musketeer squad during our third meeting with the princess." Another. And another. And another. "Every weapon I have ever laid eyes on, no matter how briefly, is mine."

"Amazing," Colbert muttered, scratching away. Apparently, Derflinger disagreed.

"Humans do that kind of thing all the time," it pointed out. "There have been plenty of people out there who have perfect memories or never forget anything."

"True," I acknowledged. "But it's more than just their shapes for me. When I trace a weapon, I trace every piece of it. I recreate the exact structure, the forging process, its age, even its battle experience. Thus when I recreate a weapon I can even recreate the powers it accumulated through the years."

"So," Derflinger said slowly, then hesitated. "So partner," it began again, making a gulping noise. "Could you even trace…me?"

I let loose a crooked smile at the blade. "No," I admitted. "You're the second blade that I couldn't make, and part of the reason why what I do isn't a true Marble Phantasm. There are some things that I as a human just can't comprehend enough to recreate." The admission seemed to satisfy the blade, and strangely enough seemed to relax the others as well.

"Why not?" Louise asked, sounding like she was getting back in control of herself. "Why can't you…trace…" she used the strange word as though it didn't quite fit right in her mouth, "Derflinger? Or the other blade?"

"In the case of the other blade, Ea, the Sword of Rupture, the blade which cuts both heaven and earth apart, it was because it was made out of a fallen star," I explained softly. By the Five True Magics, even now thinking of that sword caused me to shiver. It had been unnatural to see such a thing, something so alien and different, so much so that it had nearly caused me physical pain to have been in its presence. "I simply could not understand it. In your case, Derflinger, it's because of your age. You're over six thousand years old," I reminded it. "It's just impossible for someone like me, a human, to comprehend that kind of time."

"Ah," the sword said, sounding happy for the first time since it started the conversation. "That makes sense! Man, that's a relief. I was worried what might happen if you ever did something like that to me! I mean, what would I have to talk about with myself?"

"Yeah, meeting yourself can be kind of annoying," I admitted. "You might just discover that you're a jerk."

Stupid Archer.

"So is that why you know so much about Ancient Magic, Sir Emiya?" Guiche asked, sounding more at ease now. In fact he looked like some of his confidence, which had been unusually low since we began this adventure, was starting to return in spades.

"Partly," I admitted. "My homeland has studied these kinds of things a bit more thoroughly than yours has."

"I feel relieved!" Malicorne pronounced, also sounding a great deal more cheerful. "If we have Ancient Magic on our side as well, then even if we do face an elf than we can win!"

"Well," I pointed out dryly. "It doesn't change the fact that if we do face one it'll be a centuries old creature that has experienced probably thousands of more battles than I have, developed skills so outlandish and powerful that it will most likely regard us as insects to be crushed, and also have the ability to manipulate all of nature around it, instead of just weapons like I do." And there the confidence went back out of them as they deflated to the ground like balloons that had been popped. "Let's worry about finding Tabitha first, and then we can figure out what to do about ancient unstoppable killing machines."

"Well," Kirche murmured, stroking her chin, "when you put it that way, I kind of want to celebrate being alive a bit first." She then grabbed both my hand and the hand of Professor Colbert, causing the professor to drop the book he was still writing in with a yelp, and began to drag us out of the room. "You children keep looking for clues, while Darling, Beloved, and I have life reaffirming sex, won't you?" she tossed over her shoulder in a singsong voice.

"My research!" Professor Colbert wailed, not noticing his impending seduction as he desperately tried to get his book back.

"Master! Save your loyal Servant!" I yelped as well, trying to retrieve my arm from the vice like grip that Kirche had managed to attach to me with.

"Kirche!" Louise yelped, sounding outraged once more. Beside her Montmorency sighed and sank her head in her hand while Guiche shuddered at the thought of a threesome that only involved one girl and Malicorne shook his fist at his lack of a love life. "Not the time, Kirche, not the time!"

Considering just how much the redhead's actions seemed to lighten the mood, I couldn't help but wonder if that had been her desired response all along. I wouldn't put it past the devious Germanian.

Still, that didn't change the fact that I was in grievous peril of being ravaged.

Just when I was ready to start fighting back, a noise at the edge of the room caused everyone to stop and wheel about.

"Looters? Get away from here, you scavenging dogs!" a voice came from hallway, revealing the source of the noise to be what appeared to be a butler that had fallen on hard times wielding a candlestick and prepared to fight to the death.

He was also apparently an angel in disguise because Kirche instantly stopped her attempts to drag Colbert and me into the dark. "Percerin?"

The butler froze, peering over towards where he had apparently heard his name. "Lady Zerbst? Is that you?"

"Percerin?" I asked, confused at how Kirche had apparently known the manservant.

"He's Tabitha's mother's chief butler," Kirche explained, sounding excited. "He might know where they have taken her!"

I turned back to the old man and let loose a grin. Finally. Something useful showed up.

*Scene Break*

It was later that night in the crowded room of a cheap inn that all of us gathered together to pour over a map and use the information that we had gotten from the butler to plan our next course of action.

"So where is this Alhambra Castle?" I asked, studying the map carefully. Colbert pointed it out easily enough, on the far side of Gallia.

"Here," the professor said, his voice serious as well. "It's all the way on the other side of Gallia. It will take several days of hard travel in order to reach."

"However hard the travel will be doesn't matter," Kirche declared passionately. "We will need to hurry. There's no telling how long we have before whatever sentence they decide upon is done."

"It's not just a matter of how long it will take us to get there," Louise muttered, studying the map carefully, "but also how long it'll take for us to get back." I glanced at my Master, proud at the perceptiveness of her statement. "Don't forget we'll probably end up being pursued after we rescue her."

"It is no easy thing to cross a country while being chased by soldiers," Colbert admitted, sounding as though he was reliving a memory he was not very happy with.

"Truly, such an event is not one I wish to experience," Guiche spoke up also studying the map. The only other one in the room was Irukukuu, who was already asleep despite the relative earliness of the evening. Malicorne and Montmorency were out back, preparing our caravan for our departure. I don't know how the noble girl had found the supplies she had brought us, but somehow she had managed to locate both a brightly colored wagon and enough costumes for the lot of us to disguise ourselves as circus performers. It was a curiously effective disguise for us. On one hand we managed to attract the attention of everyone we had passed on the way here, but the attention was tempered by the fact that our disguises covered a good portion of our features anyway. Except for Kirche's that is. She had decided on a dancing girl costume for herself, though the lack of covering in her case was every bit as distracting as the rest of ours. "Perhaps we should not then?"

"What do you mean?" Louise asked, trying to understand what the blond swordsman was saying. Guiche leaned over and traced a route over the map as he answered.

"If we instead cross north into Germania, then will not Gallia be forced to halt its army at the border?" he proposed.

I nodded considering. "However, if Gallia were to demand our capture then they might be able to compel Germania to hunt us themselves."

"No, look here," Kirche pointed out, tracing a path herself. "I know this area well, seeing as my family owns land near there. If we can reach it then I can guide us through until we reach the Zerbst estates. Once there we will be protected until we can cross back into Tristain territory."

"That is true," Colbert murmured, liking this plan. Louise on the other hand shuddered. It took me a second to realize why. Not only would it involve her being forced to rely on a Zerbst, something that seemed to be anathema to her Valliere name, but the nearest place to cross back over would be to the Valliere territory itself, which would mean…

I suppressed a shudder myself.

"We will need to inform Henrietta about the change in plans so she can let the Valliere family know to expect us," I said with absolute certainty.

"But there is no way for us to deliver a message to her Majesty," Guiche pointed out, worried. "There are already warrants out for our arrests. It would make it difficult for us to get an audience with the Queen."

"There isn't one out for Professor Colbert yet," I pointed out. "He'll just have to go back."

"I don't like the idea of leaving you all by yourselves," Colbert pointed out, sounding resistant to the idea. I didn't like the idea of throwing away such a potent combat asset either, but the options…

"It would be a shame to make it back to Tristain just to be killed at the border," Louise supplied, looking white as a sheet. I nodded seriously in affirmation. This seemed to surprise the rest of the group.

"But why would we be in danger once we're back in Tristain?" Guiche asked, puzzled.

"Louise's mother is Karin the 'Heavy Wind'," I pointed out bluntly, "and Louise has just been arrested for treason."

"What!" Guiche and Kirche snapped, turning to stare at the white faced Louise.

"Ah! So that's where you met…Karin…." Professor Colbert started out enthusiastic, and then seemed to realize just what I had said. "Ah," he admitted. "Yes, it would be a shame to die after all that, wouldn't it?"

Guiche and Kirche didn't seem to know what to make of Professor Colbert's agreement, turning to look between him, me, and Louise. That absolute seriousness we spoke of us dying seemed to unnerve them.

"This way if we do get captured once we're out of Gallia, Henrietta could be prepared to request our extradition as well," I pointed out. "Germania would probably be much more inclined to hand us over if that happened than Gallia would."

"Shirou," Colbert said seriously. "I don't want anything to happen to any of my students."

"I'll keep an eye on them," I assured him dryly. He leaned over and put a hand on my shoulder, drawing my gaze to his serious expression.

"I consider you one of my students too, Shirou," he said seriously. "You take care of yourself as well," he ordered.

I met his eyes for a second, and then let loose a small grin. "Understood, Sir."

*Scene Break*

It took us ten days of travel to make it to the city at the foot of Alhambra Castle. The castle itself was a mostly abandoned structure, which at some point had been constructed as an outpost in the war against the elves. It had been supposed to be man's triumphant declaration that they would sweep through the desert that lay beyond it, which had been claimed by the elves at some point in history, and take back their holy land which lay beyond.

That had apparently lasted until the first battle with the elves which had ended in total route for the humans. It had apparently taken less than a week before every man, woman, and child who had dwelled in what had been supposed to be an impenetrable fortress had been slaughtered.

It seemed that some time later a treaty had been made with the elves, and humans had been allowed back in, forming a city at the base of the ruined citadel, but that the castle itself had never again been used as a military base. The region surrounding the desolate castle and the town at its foot was harsh and dry, as could be suspected of a city at the edge of a desert which was oddly enough named the Sahara, just like the desert back in my homeworld. It wasn't the first name I had noticed that had similar natures as those that were found back where I came from, so I paid the similarity no mind. The buildings were tan brick constructions, resembling what might be found in any desert region back where I came from, and most of the trees in these regions were tough citrus plants.

The very day we arrived we were able to discover all the information we needed. It had taken Kirche getting one soldier drunk on both wine and the Germanian's lush and mostly exposed beneath her dancing girl outfit body to confirm the presence of disgraced royal family members that were mother and daughter at the castle. After that Malicorne using his wind magic spell called 'Distant Vision' had been able to count the number of guards as being three hundred swordsmen with ten nobles as their commanders. There had been no way to confirm the elf's presence, but I personally had my doubts. However it was that the Gallian government had managed to get the services of one of the sworn enemies of their race, it was entirely possible that whatever deal they had made was over. Perhaps they had simply hired one as a mercenary, or requested ones service as part of a deal over something or other. Whatever the case, elves were potent as both fighters and deterrents through fear. It was entirely likely that the elf had already been called away to take care of some other matter.

Likely, but not certain.

Still, the plan that had been developed was simple, but potentially effective. Montmorency would be called to use the potion skills which had troubled us so in the past to make as much of a sleeping potion as he could, while Guiche was sent around town to buy up every drop of wine he could. Once dowsed, we would approach the guards themselves and offer them the chance to purchase back both the wine, and the opportunity to ogle some half naked dancer girls. Once they were all conked out, it was just a matter of opening Tabitha's cell, and then running like hell north towards Germania.

All the preparations had been made, and the only thing left to do was for Kirche to try and get some basic dancer skills into Montmorency and the human shaped Irukukuu. I was doing my best to rest up for the evening so I could be in top shape if anything went wrong. However my attempt at sleeping was being hindered by an unexpected distraction.

"Look! Look look look! Look Shirou! I have breasts!" Louise was happily singing while bouncing her apparently newly discovered chest which was wrapped in a dancing girl outfit with her hands. When Kirche had taken the other two girls away to start showing them how to shake their money makers she had ordered Louise and I to rest up for the evening. Louise had naturally taken that as an insult to her figure, and in retaliation had put on her own dancer outfit so that she could prove that she could compete when it came to figures

It quickly became apparent that she had only been doing that for the principle of the matter. When she had discovered that all unnoticed her figure really had been developing over the last few months, she had quickly forgotten her outrage in order to flaunt her developing chest.

"Yes, Louise. I noticed," I assured her dryly from where I was laying back on a cot with my hands behind my head and my eyes closed.

"Not too big yet," she muttered from where she was standing in front of a mirror and presumably ogling herself. "But Cattleya always told me she was about my size until she got her growth spurt. Shirou! How big am I compared to Cattleya!" she demanded of me.

"Not quite there yet, Master," I assured her.

"Hmmmm. How much longer! Shirou! Do you have weapon somewhere that can make them grow faster?"

"Why certainly, Master," I told her dryly. "Because the first thing I think of when I consider swords is their potential for mammary enhancement."

"Hah! Take that Kirche," she continued, confirming my belief that I was in the room not so much for meaningful conversation but more for the sake of her having an audience to crow to. "Who's flat-chested now!"

"Most certainly not her," I noted.

"Stupid Kirche, telling me to go sleep," Louise muttered, her voice hitching at odd times in what was most likely do to her new found fascination with doing things to her chest that she should probably wait till she was in private to do. "Even after everything we've been through she's still looking down on me!"

A new voice spoke up, causing me to crack one of my eyes open. "I'm not looking down on you, Louise. I'm acknowledging you." Standing in the doorway to the room where Louise was flaunting her newly discovered talents and I was attempting to nap was Kirche. Louise 'eeped' and wheeled to face her long time adversary.

"Look! You see! Stupid Kirche! I fill out one of these outfits just as good as you do now!" Louise declared, stomping one foot and pointing an accusing finger at her long time family nemesis. It wasn't an entirely truthful declaration, but then again I think nine tenths of the female population of the world didn't quite manage to reach Kirche's level of 'filling out'. The two of them were dressed in what could loosely be described as a handful of handkerchiefs and jewelry. The dancing girl outfits, which most likely originated from the same place where the barbarian outfit that Siesta had tried to con me into wearing, consisted of two small pieces of fabric attached to strings for the chest and one long piece of fabric that was attached in some way to a belt chain that provided a long flowing loin cloth like garment that hung down from the front and back of the waist. On the feet were sandals laced high up to the knees, and from their wrists, ankles, and necks dangled a variety of jewelry. Kirche, with her lush figure, filled the garments out to the point where the garment couldn't even begin to fit itself into any definition of 'decent'. Louise on the other hand was discovering that she had at some point in the past managed to transcend the point where she would have looked like a cross dressing boy and managed to definitely point herself out as female. My Master was still tiny of stature, but, as she had triumphantly discovered much after the peeking former members of the Undine Knights had, had began to fill out. She was still only an 'A' cup, and not even on the larger side of the size, but she was no longer as flat as a washboard like once she was.

"Yes, Lady Valliere, you most certainly do," Kirche acknowledged freely, and in a voice that was lacking in malice of any kind, or even in humor as well. Louise blinked in surprise at hearing her long time schoolyard menace speaking to her in such a fashion. "As I said, it is not in derision that causes me to ask you to rest, but rather hope. You two are to be our trump card in this encounter."

Her formal tone was enough to make me open both my eyes completely so that I could study her, and caused Louise to straighten and flush, unsure of what was going on.

"W-w-w-what do you mean?" Louise stuttered, looking unsure. "Do you meant use us as sacrifices if we come across the elf! Stupid Zerbst! If you think to run away and leave us to die, don't take us so lightly!" My tiny but still growing Master proclaimed, pointing at Kirche in accusation as she did so.

"Not at all," Kirche smiled at her softly. It wasn't often I saw the Germanian so serious. Well, admittedly I saw her serious all the time, but it wasn't often I saw her so serious about something that didn't involve bedrooms or other suitable substitutes. "Indeed, I'm counting on you to win. There is little doubt that at some time tonight we will come across the elf. If that happens, than I'm trusting you and your Servant to be all that preserves us from death. Your Servant, the wielder of magic not unlike Ancient Magic itself, and yourself, whom uses the power of legend."

Louise froze at that. "Y-y-you know about the void?" my Master whispered, sounding shocked. Kirche smiled in response.

"I've seen you chant many times now, Louise. Magic unlike anything I have ever seen. It is not so hard for one who has watched you cast to figure out what it is you wield." Standing in front of my Master the fiery redhead lowered herself to both knees, and bowed till she rested her head on the floor. "Please, honorable descendent. I apologize, on behalf of all the slights I have given you in the past, and all those my family has given yours: please lend this selfish one your power in my quest to save my friend."

She was serious. Kirche, the fiery seductress, the free spirited fire mage, was being serious. I sat upright, my eyes focused on the prostrated redhead as she humbled herself in front of my Master. Louise seemed frozen.

"G-g-g-get up Kirche," Louise told her, sounding like she had no idea what was going on. When Kirche looked up, still earnest, Louise flushed and glanced away. "It's not like I could refuse such a request. Tabitha is my friend. And so are y-y-y-you."

It looked like the Valliere admitting that to the Zerbst might have quite possibly been the hardest thing my small Master had ever done. A small smile cracked my lips as Kirche beamed up from where she was still kneeling.

"Oh! You are so cute!" the redhead squealed, launching herself to her feet and dragging my Master into the embrace of her pillowy bosoms. Louise had time for only one startled 'eep' before she found herself in a place I had visited all too often in the past. "I want to steal you away from that nasty repressed little country and bring you home with me to Germania! A woman as fierce as you deserves to be there!" Kirche gushed as she continued to smother my Master with her boobs.

"Help!" Louise managed to get out. "Shirou! Why are you standing there! Help me!"

"Because however twisted it might be, the relationship the two of you share is most definitely friendship," I murmured, and Kirche turned to beam at me. I smiled back, then laid back down to try and get some sleep as Kirche squealed and continued to molest my Master.

*Scene Break*

It was a wonder that the plan had worked as well as it had. A wonder, and a testament to Kirche's ability to wrap men around her finger. When we had shown up at the gates of the guardhouse with a wagon full of wine, the guardsmen had been complaining about how there was a shortage of drink in the city. When the redhead had brazenly announced that the reason the city was dry was because we had already bought it up, and the only way they'd get it back is if they paid a great deal more in order to watch her dance I was almost expecting a riot. Instead, the guards had proven willing to pay it back with extra added on. It was as much a part of her showmanship as it was her physical talents. By the end of it, she had sold them wine twice the going rate, and made them happy to pay it. If we really had been just a traveling group of performers, I had no doubt we would be rich within a year.

The only thing which might have been considered a hitch was the fact that the commander of the troops, a noble which looked as though they took a great deal of advantage of the title to live a life of decadence most of us could only dream about, had refused the wine, calling it low class, and had instead insisted that Kirche give him a private showing later.

The show had gone off nearly flawlessly. The troops, stationed in a hot dusty middle of nowhere with the inglorious task of guarding only two women, one of whom was mad and the other still looked like nothing but a child, had been restless. They had considered this job beneath them, the kind of pointless thing that was given as busy work to people whom had managed to piss off their higher ups. The commander himself had been of the same mindset, and so when the opportunity to allow his troops to blow off steam with over charged wine and beautiful women dancing had arisen, he had given permission to the entire garrison to attend. So while Kirche, Irukukuu, and to a lesser extent Montmorency and my Master gyrated on stage in barely decent outfits, the entire garrison of three hundred men plus nine of the magic using nobles had drank their fill. The sleeping potion was diluted over several casks and would take time to set in so we had to make them drink as much as we could as fast as we could. Fortunately, nothing wets a man's thirst like sight of four lovely ladies in next to nothing after having been stationed in the middle of nowhere for who knows how long.

The first dance alone, with all four of our girls, probably saw to it that enough potion was consumed by all present to knock them out for hours. The biggest problem we experienced was trying to keep them all distracted enough not to notice that the drug was kicking in. After the first dance Kirche had left the stage, presumably to go pleasure the commander, the only man that hadn't been present at the show, with a 'private dance'. In reality she was to pretend to get lost and search as much of the castle as she could for Tabitha and her mother. Unfortunately, with the loss of our biggest, and I mean that both figuratively and literally, attraction we had a dicey moment where the crowd began to get restless. Irukukuu might have had the assets to properly distract the crowd, but when the more ribald members of the crowd had began shouting things like 'take it off,' the dragon had very nearly done so. She simply didn't have any body shame to speak of, not being in her own true form. Unfortunately, that could have led to various complications. When we dragged her off stage, the crowd had gotten restless with only Montmorency and Louise left there.

Fortunately, we stumbled upon a way to keep the masses occupied. Regardless of their body type, both Montmorency and Louise were nobles. More than just magic, nobles were educated in numerous fields. One such, the dances of the courts, proved to be enough to distract the guards. With the typical upper class pressure to distinguish themselves from the masses, nobles had developed several routines which were meant only to be performed away from the eyes of the ignorant masses. When Louise and Montmorency started to perform one, the sight appeared both graceful and strange enough to capture the attention of the near riot guardsmen.

"Well," Guiche muttered, sounding exhausted from all the playing he had done, "that went well enough." Malicorne, who also looked like he was on the edge of his rope, nodded as well. It had fallen to the two of them to call on the common noble belief that all true members of the nobility knew how to play at least one instrument and provide the background music for the dances.

"Don't act like you two have a right to be tired," Montmorency snapped at her boyfriend. The blond was also panting after having been forced to perform onstage with bright lights all around her. Louise had been up there as well, but thanks to the training she had forced on herself was in much better shape than her blond cohort.

"That was fun! Kyuui!" Irukukuu chimed in, sounding like the experience of wiggling her body back and forth for several hours while countless dirty unshaven men shouted lewd things at her had been good fun. Then again, dragon. They weren't exactly known for their understanding of other species. And if any of the men had actually tried something, well, the blue haired girl would have probably changed back and eaten them.

"They appear to be out. Monmon," I snapped, all business now, "how long do you think we have?"

The blond grimaced and pushed a strand of sweat soaked hair from her eyes. "Given how much most of them seemed to have been drinking we probably could kick them for the next six hours and not have to worry." The blond paused, noting one in particular face in the crowd, and put action to words, driving the heel of her foot into the snoring man's sides. "Illiterate pig," she growled at the one she had kicked. Apparently she had been taking note of just which face in the crowd had been saying what, and that poor sod had been particularly noticeable.

"Save it for later," Louise snapped, her posture straight. Even in the dancer girl outfit right now she was in full on game mode. The other's looked surprised to hear her say something so forcefully. "Right now priority is on supporting Kirche and finding Tabitha. Shirou. Where to next?"

I answered back quickly, knowing that time was of the essence. We had managed to neutralize most of the forces in the castle, but that was only the forces we knew about. There was at least one other human, the commander who had disdained the wine in order to focus on Kirche, and possibly more as well, perhaps a secret guard unit held out of sight for emergencies. And that wasn't even counting the distinct possibility that the elf was still here as well. "Kirche was going to focus on the lower chambers. She's had nearly an hour and a half. Since she hasn't returned she most likely hasn't found Tabitha there. We should start high, and work our way down till we meet her."

"Right," Louise nodded, and turned to the other. "We move out now. Malicorne, the stairs to the towers were on the east side of the castle, right?"

"R-r-right!" the chubby boy stammered, staring at my Master with wide eyes and flushed cheeks.

Don't think about Eleanor. Don't think about Eleanor. Don't think about what the two of them apparently had in common….

"We begin there, and move in a group. If we come across resistance, the rest of us will move ahead and leave Shirou to handle it. Servant," Louise turned to address me directly, and steel was in every part of her body. "There is no one in this castle we need except for Tabitha and her mother."

"Understood, Master," I answered back, my tone expressionless. The time for tact had ended. My Master had just given me the carte blanche to meet anyone we encountered with lethal force.

As a group, we raced across the courtyard of Alhambra Castle, me darting ahead of the others, circling wide and scouting each corner before moving on to the next, often before the others had even a chance to catch up. I kept my hand on Derflinger at all times, using the power of Gandalfr to boost my movements. It had been many months since Saxe-Gotha, and with my own rigorous training schedule, most often against various magic users of this world, I was now noticing the increase in my ability. I wasn't reinforcing, not yet anyway, but I could detect an increase in my speed from the last time I had been in a situation as tense as this.

Alhambra was a medieval style castle, and the layout of it was pretty simple. There were three layers to it, the inner courtyard bounded by a wall, the middle plaza also bounded by a wall, and the outer area, bounded by the final wall. It was a military outpost, and each section was designed to be a fall back point for if the outer layer beyond it was breached by siege. Originally the design was meant for each layer to be completely defensible, but the castle had already fallen once before. There were great rents throughout each of the dividing walls, rents which hadn't been bothered to be repaired when the castle was reoccupied. Since our group was meant to start at the top and work our way down, it took us barely a handful of minutes to make it from the outer area, where our performance had been staged, to the inner plaza, half way to the center of the castle. In the very center of the three layered city was the tower like manor where the lord of the castle would have dwelt. Considering the fact that Tabitha was in fact royalty, it seemed likely to me that as a royal prisoner her cell had most likely been gilded. It was there, in the center most region, that I was banking on finding the imprisoned princess.

I paused, waiting at the gates that would lead to the center courtyard, as the rest of the group hurried to catch up. I must have been quite a sight, in my black pants and boots and bereft of my cloak, which had been surrendered when we had been arrested by Henrietta, but still wearing the tattered arm sleeves that Louise had knit so long ago.

"Are you well?" I asked the others as they stumbled to my position, all of them panting.

"We've been dancing and playing for hours while you just sat in the corner and looked ominous!" Montmorency panted, looking like a wilted flower. "What do you think?" she demanded, sounding annoyed at the injustice of it all.

"Don't worry," I told her dryly. "If anything happens from here on out I'm sure I'm the one who'll be doing the heavy lifting."

"I hate this," Louise muttered. "It's been going too well. Things never go this well. If it keeps up we'll be able to just grab Tabitha and get out of here." I winced at that. If ever I needed proof that Louise had been influenced by me, that was enough right there. This was a world where stories ended up with happy endings, and legends were all filled with morals. It took a world like my own, and experiences like my own, to engender that kind of cynicism in these parts.

"But Louise," Guiche panted, looking like he as well as Louise was marginally less winded than the rest of the group, "Isn't it a good thing when things go well?"

"In stories, yes," my Master snapped back, looking agitated. "But in real life…."

She was interrupted when the tower in front of us erupted in a geyser of flame, the sound of old brickwork being shattered and erupting in an inferno of flame and broken stone echoing through the air. Every head in the group snapped up to witness as the wall which led to the inner sanctum of the castle exploded in a pillar of crimson light. I closed one eye as I studied it to preserve my night vision, but then the closed lid launched up as I froze, staring in horror.

Even as the others made their exclamations of surprise or shock, I watched, tracing the shadow caught in the middle of the flame as it followed an arc through the air, my body frozen in unnamable dread.

As the others ducked and attempted to cover themselves from the raining masonry, I could only whisper in shock. "Kirche."

Her body struck the ground with a wet thump, rolling across the stones of the courtyard as the clatter of rubble fell around her. I didn't notice the others, striding forward to stand above the fallen body, feeling as though I was crawling through molasses as I did so. They were saying things, shouting, but even the voice of my Master wasn't enough to penetrate the hot buzzing noise which had erupted in my skull. Kirche. The fiery redheaded Germanian. The unashamed sex bomb. Even before Siesta had truly befriended me, Kirche had been there, offering her hand in welcome after her familiar had adopted me. More than anyone else in this world, she had always been open to me. It had taken me showing my power before Louise had accepted me. It had taken nearly killing him before Guiche had. It had taken me proving myself before Siesta had. Kirche had never once doubted me, looked down on me, flinched away from me. And now, she was laying broken on the courtyard in front of me, her body twisted with burns, her long hair scorched away, her flesh blackened from fire.

Kirche.

There were noises there, in the background. One of them sounded familiar. I think it was Guiche. It sounded vaguely like, 'Sir Emiya, you're scaring me.' There might have been another. It might have been Montmorency. It sounded vaguely like, 'She's badly hurt!' There might have been another. It might have been Irukukuu. It sounded vaguely like, 'I'll help.'

They were irrelevant.

I could feel a snarl forming on my lips. I could hear my breath coming in short pants. I could feel my body shaking.

I could feel rage.

A voice came, and I recognized it only because it was the voice of the one who had my attention. It was Kirche, and it sounded pained, as though every breath was an agony to take. It said, "Elf…Be careful."

Elf.

So that is what I was about to kill.

In front of me, there was an opening. A set of stairs. They led to where the thing I was about to kill was. I walked to them.

I was half way up them when I noticed that there was someone beside me. Even in my state of mind, I recognized them.

"Master," I said.

"Servant," came her voice. That was enough. Kirche had been Louise's nemesis for most of her school years. But with time, and experience, whatever hate my Master might have felt for the redhead had changed. It was a strange thing, how love and hate could get intertwined. To love something so much you could not be near it. To hate it so much you could not be without it. I don't know where my Master stood in that regards, but it didn't change the fact that today she had admitted her friendship for the one that lay broken behind us. And to have that newly acknowledged connection so casually stamped upon, so easily shattered…

My Master walked beside me. And both Master and Servant wanted blood.

The stairway we traveled was low, and opened up into a courtyard filled with ornate columns. I understood, intellectually, that the courtyard was designed to be a last ditch hold out against invading forces. The stairs had curved clockwise as we had taken them. This was so defenders, who were mostly right handed, would be able to fight freely while the aggressors, also right handed, would be impeded by the natural slope of the stairs. The stairs themselves would have been the optimal time for anyone to impede us. However, whoever it was that suddenly launched fireballs at the two of us obviously wasn't aware of the true nature of castle stairways. They waited till we were framed in the doorway before launching their attacks.

With the runes of Gandalfr glowing so brightly beneath my sleeves that the light was enough to cast a ghastly illumination into the otherwise darkened room I batted the feeble attack away with the swiftly drawn Derflinger. The blade drank deeply, the magic behind the fireballs feeding it. With swiftness that surpassed anything I have shown so far, the humming magic of the runes strengthening me to a level I had not yet dreamed of achieving, I crossed the distance between me and the stone column that hid the aggressor. The pale light of the moon reflected of my blade as I cut through the column leaving a bar of silver afterimages in my wake as I finished my attack.

Two thumps echoed: one from the body of the attacker, the other from the head.

I spared the head a glance, only long enough for me to determine the length of its ears. They were normal shaped. So this was not the elf which I was seeking.

"So you two are the friends of the girl just now?" a clear voice echoed through the columned courtyard.

My eyes traced upwards, and found the speaker. It was male, and quite frankly beautiful to behold. Its features were chiseled, yet soft. It had a beauty to it, yet was distinctly masculine at the same time. It wore a wide brimmed hat, and its soft looking blond mane flowed down across its back in a wave of gold. It wore a soft looking coat of a light amber color that flowed around its body.

And it had long ears.

So this was what I came here to kill.

"An elf, partner," the sword in my hand spoke to me. I sheathed it. It wouldn't be enough for what was to come.

"I am Bidashal," the figure in front of me spoke as it descended the stairs that would lead deeper into the tower. "Let me inform all of you now: I don't like battles. If you leave now, then I shall not pursue."

"Be silent," I told it, holding my right arm in front of me and tracing. The Muramasa blade in my hand, a blade which had been created for no other purpose but to end life, a blade which desired to do so above all else, which hungered for blood and death and pain, shrieked in pain. For the first time in its existence it tasted a blood thirst which surpassed its own, and it felt what all those poor mortals whom had been overwhelmed by its sentience in the past felt: fear. "The dead have no use for words."

The speed with which I closed on the elf in front of me tore at my clothing, causing them to crack as they snapped to and fro in the wind left by the wake of my passage. The Muramasa blade, eager to please the one whose bloodlust surpassed even its own, screamed as it cut through the air parting stray pillars as it passed through them like paper when I swung it. The elf in front of me did not move, only sighed as it closed its eyes and waited.

Neither of us was surprised when the blood drinking sword in my hand bounced away from the figure in front of me without closing within a foot of it.

"It is pointless, barbarian swordsman," the elf managed to get out before I drew Derflinger on my back and swung it as well. I had been expecting the reaction. Irukukuu had described the battle between Tabitha and the elf, Bidashal, many days ago. The dragon had spoken of how every attack that had been launched had reflected back on the caster. Swinging Derflinger down, I felt resistance at the same point where the Muramasa blade had been stopped. This time, instead of allowing the sword to be rebuffed I placed my left hand on the back the magic drinking sword and forced it down. It ground against the invisible wall that stopped it, not being able to penetrate yet the force behind it not letting it be flung away as my last blade had been.

"It's no use, partner," Derflinger ground out, the quillion between my hand and the blade itself shaking. "It's like I thought. It's Counter!"

"A wise sword indeed, to know this," Bidashal spoke, not seeming surprised by the fact that my sword had just spoken. "This is indeed the Counter magic."

If they were expecting this revelation to be in anyway meaningful to me, then they were both in for a disappointment. I set my feet and pushed, trying to force Derflinger through the invisible resistance through sheer power. I had vaguely hoped that the magic drinking blade would be able to cancel the spell if I kept it in contact long enough, but it seemed this hope was futile; if this was indeed nature magic then it seemed to be either too different or too powerful for the ancient blade to consume. The keen edge of the sentient sword dragged across the invisible barrier, always staying the same distance away from any flesh as it did so. Finally allowing myself to be rebuffed, I took one step back, and sheathed Derflinger in one move.

The elf raised one cool eyebrow at me, its expression disinterested. It hadn't bothered to move through either of my attacks. "So now you know, barbarian. There is no way for you to advance. Leave, and I shall…"

"I am the bone of my sword," I interrupted it, raising one hand above my head. "Steel is my body, and fire is my blood."

Trace on.

The blade that formed in my hand was sleek, double edged, and long. Its hilt was of fine black ebony and gilded with gold. It shone silver in the poorly lit courtyard, far too bright to simply be reflecting the poor illumination and casting strange shadows against the pillars which were around me.

"Shatter this shield, Durandal," I ordered it, and brought it down hard on the elf.

Durandal, the favored sword of Sir Roland, granted to him by King Charlemagne whom had been granted it in turn by an angel. Once traced, this blade no longer required my od to use. With the ability to grant three miracles, and the promise of never losing its sharpness, regardless of the wielders state, I used one such miracle as I struck at my foe in front of me.

For the briefest of seconds, the sword was stopped as well, the elf beginning to look bored at the repetition of my attack. And then light blossomed around where Durandal was halted, glistening through the air like the sun being reflected from some strange curved surface. Bidashal's eyes shot open in shock, and a second later the blade shattered the defensive magic that it had been so proud of with the noise like thunder, the Counter spell shattering away in pieces as though it was nothing more than glass.

Durandal completed its arc, and buried itself into the ground, splitting the rock there with another enormous cracking sound.

I had missed.

No matter that I had managed to overcome one of the elf's tricks. It didn't change the fact that this creature measured its life in centuries. Nothing lasts that long in a dangerous world and doesn't learn to be more than a little dangerous itself. The moment it had saw its defenses start to fail, it hadn't wasted a moment gawking in surprise, it had instead displayed its own speed, leaping backward in a series of short jumps till it was across the room from me.

"By the dark children of Shaitan," it breathed, its eyes locked on the holy sword in my hand. "What manner of treachery is this?"

That was all it got out before it discovered that I too wasn't one for standing idly by. With od pumping through my body and sinking into every muscle therein, and the glow of the Gandalfr runes still so bright that my sleeves could not conceal it, I closed.

When next I struck, the elf was prepared, and now no longer willing to stand idly by and let me exhaust myself with my attacks. When Durandal swung at it again, this time it shot its hand out to intercept. Once more the flare of Counter emerged, and then shattered, but despite being penetrated the spell slowed my blade enough for the elf to slip away from the edge of my blade. Again and again, I struck, and again and again the elf dodged while using one hand to buy it precious time to evade. It was astounding, watching the flesh and blood creature manage to keep up with my inhuman speed. This was what it meant to fight an elf, to cross blades with the weight of the experience that their inhumanly long lives granted them.

Even as it continued to fend me off using one hand, it raised the other above its head. Its eyes narrowed in concentration of both defending itself and apparently preparing whatever spell it was about to cast it chanted, "Spirits of the rocks of this place, hear me! Cast thy form into daggers, and pierce this foe before me!"

"Partner!" Derflinger snapped. "It's contracted the spirits of this place! Watch out!"

Heeding the swords warning I was prepared when the ground itself surrounding us began to shatter and peel like the skin of an orange being pulled off. Long strips of hard rock tore themselves from the ground, and then melted as though clay and reformed themselves into long sharp shards. When they flew at me, I was prepared.

Drawing Derflinger once more I began a desperate whirlwind dance of steel. I couldn't let up my assault, because to do so would allow the elf time to cast even stronger magic. With it being forced to split its concentration between me and the spell, I was banking on the fact that this was at best a half assed effort to get me to separate long enough for Bidashal to catch his breath. Instead I continued striking at it with Durandal while calling on all my experience to defend myself from the daggers of stone that launched themselves at me from behind with Derflinger. Moving quickly, I also circled the elf, putting it between me and the worst of the attack. I was banking on the stones not being able to maneuver in the air well enough to circle around the caster and hit me anyway.

It was hard, and it caused sweat to pour down my face from both the exertion and the concentration, but I weathered the attack. The blades that found the elf between me and them were rebuffed by the elf's own Counter magic, and somehow I managed to maintain my brutal attempt to bludgeon the thing in front of me to death with my holy sword while keeping the worst of the attacks from finding my flesh. Some of them I managed to block while others I managed to dodge, twisting my body in ways I knew I'd feel the next day. Still, some of them managed to cut me, sawing their way through my flesh in a collection of small wounds which would quickly add up if I wasn't careful.

Still, this wasn't going to be enough. I was pressing the elf, and I could make out sweat beading on its forehead just as surely as it was forming on mine, but it didn't change the fact that the elf had already found a counter to my counter for its Counter. It would have been inspiring to watch, a battle every bit as fast and glorious as what might have occurred between Servants in the Holy Grail War. I could easily imagine watching Bidashal exchange blows with Rider, or Saber, or even Lancer…

I see. Yes, that would work. But executing it….

"Shirou! Above!" came the voice of my Master, whom I had almost forgotten had come along as well. Heeding the warning in her tone I launched myself backwards, desperately seeking distance to escape whatever attack it was that had put the panic in her voice.

Above me, I saw it. The blades of stone, the ones I had dodged, hadn't simply fallen idle after their attack. Even as I watched the last few of them lifted in the air, breaking up and then compressing as they joined the enormous mass that had been forming in the air out of my line of sight. It was like looking at the giant stone fist of Fouquet's golem that I had faced so long ago, though the titanic limb that was forming above me dwarfed even those nearly three times over. My mind raced. What did I have that could stop that? Sure, Rho Aias would stop it, but at the cost of rendering me immobile. Against a foe like this, that would be about the same as just taking the time to paint a bulls eye on my forehead, or maybe drawing a dotted long across my neck and writing the instructions 'cut here'. I needed to cut through and close again so I could maintain the offensive…

Once more my Master's voice penetrated the air. "Shirou!" We had been in many battles, fought and trained together, ate, drank, and even slept together. I could read what her voice told me with no more words being needed. My Master had a plan.

I set my eyes on Bidashal, the elf staring at me across the courtyard with narrowed eyes, and trusted in Louise to protect me from the attack above.

"I see now there will be no reasoning with you," the elf proclaimed, sounding pompous as it did so. "Since you will not depart, then it shall be my duty to end you. Farewell, barbarian swordsmen."

As the massive stone fist began to descend, my Master cried out a third time. "Disintegrate!"

It was my Master's first true void spell, and not just one she had learned from the Founder's Prayer book. It had taken her months, nearly a year since the first time she had used the void, but finally she had managed to identify her own element, to master it enough for her to create her own spells. Disintegrate was at best a line class spell, lacking much of the subtlety of what mages of other elements might be able to cast with the same amount of power, but it was effective. Combining the wave like nullification of the Dispell spell with the ability to affect the physical of the Explosion spell, it was her first true accomplishment, and a mark of just how powerful my Master was.

True to its name, a distorting wave met the fist, and the fist ceased to be. Crumbling away, like watching a wave erode a cliff side in fast forward, the enormous stone above me dissolved into boulders, and then the boulders dissolved into pebbles, and then the pebbles dissolved into sand, and the sand itself faded away.

"The power of Shaiton! Polluter of the world!" the elf gasped, and for the first time in the fight it sounded afraid. Even as it swung its eyes to try and find my Master, it found me in them instead. I had dismissed Durandal and sheathed Derflinger. Despite being apparently weaponless, the runes on my left hand still illuminated the room around us. Bidashal's eyes widened, and some experience in its life warned it of what was to come:

I was about to kill it.

Desperately, even as I leaned forward and began my charge, the elf thrust both hands at me. The wall behind it shattered and launched itself, the elf not even taking the time to attempt to sharpen the projectiles this time. In the same way as Tabitha had when we fought, it focused the stream of raining death at me, the column that leapt to crush me much faster and more focused then even the impressive blue haired girl had managed.

This time, unlike against the ice mage, I didn't bother drawing a weapon to try and parry the attacks. I just put my left arm in front of me and across my body, and charged in, holding my right hand behind me as I prepared.

For several long moments a noise like hail on a tin roof was all that could be heard in the shattered courtyard. Finally, the elf's managed a strangled question, its voice laced with disgust and horror. "What are you?"

I was crouched in front of it, my body low and my feet spread. Behind me my right hand held the weapon I had chosen, but the elf's eyes were locked on my right arm.

Erupting from every inch of it, from the knuckles of my fist to my elbow, were swords. They pierced out of my flesh as though they had grown there, extending and interlocking like some kind of unholy tangle of barbwire. In the sparse illumination of the courtyard they glowed silver, a luminance which was marred with dark splatters of my own blood as it dripped down them, the spilled life fluid black in the light.

"My body is made of swords," I whispered, and then flooded the weapon still held behind me with od. Murder filled the air; dark, potent, and heavy. The crimson shaft knew what would come next, and hungered for it. I spoke the last words of the battle.

"Gae Bolg."

Gae Bolg, the spear of impaling barbed death, wielded by Cu Cuhlainn as the Lancer during the Holy Grail War. It is an evil weapon, cursed, and once called upon in battle it always found the heart of its target. Indeed, it reverses time itself to do so. The moment I had spoken its name, Bidashal was already pierced. When I thrust the lance, it was simply a matter of me proving it to the rest of the world. It was an unblockable and undodgeable attack. There is no defense against it. Even Counter magic, which had managed to slow Durandal enough so that the elf could dodge, was useless.

Still, Bidashal tried. I saw the air around it thicken in some way, possibly an unused defense ability, and the elf leaped backwards, trying to move far enough away that the lance wouldn't reach him.

It was a noble effort, but it failed. Mid-leap, the red spear in my hand found him, and drove itself through his chest and into his heart. He clutched at it desperately, his hands grasping the shaft weakly as he tried to pull it out of himself, still hanging in the air where I held him.

Wordlessly, I shifted my grip, and slammed the elf into the ground, forcing the lance to penetrate all the way through him and pin him to the rock beneath like a butterfly in a display case. The rocks screeched as they were shattered by the blow, and Bidashal opened his mouth in a strangled gasp, blood from his lungs which had been cut by my thrust erupting from his lips, staining his face.

And then he died.

For a moment, I stood above his corpse, looking at it without expression. I hated that weapon. It was powerful, and useful. But it was evil beyond measure. I had thought I understood that the first time I ever encountered it, when it had been my heart that it had found. But to actually wield it in battle, to feel its malice and hold its hate in my own hands…

I turned, and walked away, back to my Master. She stood at the edge of the courtyard where she had waited and watched. She was panting, most likely from the effort of having cast her spell. Disintegrate was the hardest spell she had, not having been properly polished or refined as the other spells in the Prayer Book most likely had. And to do so without any apparent chanting was the same as her having cast just raw magic at the attack. She would be exhausted tonight.

She also wasn't alone anymore. Apparently at some point the rest of the group had caught up. Guiche had Kirche on his back, her arms thrown over his shoulders and her legs grasped around his waist. The redhead still looked like she needed a haircut to trim away the singed spots, but her skin no longer was blackened and burnt. Beside her, Montmorency hovered. I decided then and there that I would never speak ill of the blond water mage again. It was most likely her skills with healing that had saved the Germanian. Malicorne was there as well, as was Irukukuu. The dragon girl was naked again. She must have transformed back into a dragon at some point and then returned to her human guise, causing her clothes to get lost in the switch.

My gaze focused on Kirche, and she managed to crack one eye open at me. "Darling…"she managed to get out, and then her eyes closed again. She was weak and tired, but she'd recover.

The rest of the group except for Louise and Irukukuu flinched at my approach. "An elf," Malicorne whimpered, looking at the corpse across the room. "He killed an elf."

"Sir Emiya," Guiche whispered his eyes wide and locked on one part of my body. "Your arm."

I looked down and realized what he was staring at. I was still sprouting blades from it, and now that I was paying attention I could make out a steady 'drip drip drip' noise as my blood still leaked out of the great slashes in my flash that they emerged from. Wordlessly I dismissed them. Without the steel to block the wounds my blood began to pour out faster now.

"Here," Montmorency whispered, swallowing hard and stepping up. She put her shaking wand against my arm and I felt the cool of water magic begin to close the tears in my flesh. I nodded at her without speaking.

"Well then," Louise finally managed to get her panting under control and stood up straight. "Let's go collect Tabitha then, shall we?"

*Scene Break*

In the room on the top floor of the tallest tower, we managed to find her. She was dressed in white night gown with a book in her lap as she sat beside a bed which held a woman that looked so much like her that she had to be the ice mage's mother. Tabitha looked small, and innocent, and I realized with a start that she just seemed out of place without her staff. I suppressed a twinge of guilt at that. It had been me that had taken that piece of her image away.

"Big sister!" Irukukuu cried out happily, throwing her naked body across the room so she could hug her Master. Tabitha looked confused, and hesitantly put her hand on the head of her familiar.

"Why? Why are you here?" she whispered, her eyes crossing the room to lock with mine.

"To save you," I answered her.

The blue haired girl was silent, and tears began to trail their way down her cheeks and onto the book in her lap. She closed her eyes, her fingers clenching the cover of the tome. Finally, her voice choked with sobs, she whispered, "thank you," before succumbing to the tears of relief.

*Scene Break*

We were making our exit from the castle, preparing for the long night and days ahead of us of fleeing towards the Germanian border when I paused at the exit. Louise, who had succumbed to the exhaustion her spellwork had put her in and was being carried in my arms, mumbled slightly, shifting in discomfort. Guiche, who had been the last one out before me noticed and paused.

"Sir Emiya, we need to hurry," he said, his voice soft and nervous.

"Yes. Tomorrow once they discover their elf dead and their princess gone they'll start to deploy troops, and try to track us," I murmured.

"Hence why we need to hurry, Sir Emiya," the nervous noble pointed out, fidgeting away and glancing between the castle we just left and towards the caravan the others were already loading and preparing.

"Troops, like the ones sleeping helplessly in the castle behind us," I pointed out, and Guiche froze, turning slowly to look at me. I continued. "Do you know, in my home world, we have two kinds of heroes, Guiche?" I spoke softly, slowly, no real expression on my face. "The first kinds are the ones you know doubt now about, the ones who perform great acts of nobility, and perform their goals while remaining above reproach, the kind who inspires others for generations to come with their purity." I glanced back towards the castle as I carried on my explanation. "The other kinds of heroes are called the anti-heroes. They're ones who also accomplish goals, and may even save thousands with their actions, but in the end the actions themselves are bloodstained and most often dishonest or just plain unforgiveable."

Guiche was silent, following my gaze towards where the slumbering forces still lay. Tomorrow those men would be hunting us, and if they caught us they'd bring the full might of their country down on us. The thought that if they caught us then Tabitha would be back in their hands, as well as my Master, and Montmorency as well, fluttered through the young noble's mind. Finally, the blond spoke. "Give me Louise. I'll watch after her till you catch up. I'll tell the others you're covering our tracks."

I handed my sleeping Master over to the blond swordsman. "Hurry up. Don't worry about me; I'll catch up before dawn."

It didn't seem right to draw Derflinger for this. The sentient sword deserved to be used in battle, not for whatever I was about to do was called. Instead I traced Kanshou and Bakuya. Bakuya gleamed like ivory in the moon light, and Kanshou was just one more shadow in the night as I walked back through the gates.

Time for the legend of the King of Swords to become something to scare another kingdom.

*Scene Break*

_That night Louise fell asleep with a warm feeling in her chest. She knew it was a little shallow for her to feel that way, but her pride in the strength of her Servant was simply so great that she simply couldn't help but once more feel overwhelming joy at the luck she had when she had summoned him so long ago._

_ It wasn't just Shirou's physical strength, though after this night she would forever hold it in the highest regards. Shirou had killed an elf, nearly completely unaided. Yes, she had lent her aid to the battle, but there had been no doubt in her mind that if she hadn't he would have been able to manage anyway. Even Louise's mother, the legendary Karin the 'Heavy Wind', had never managed to kill an elf._

_ It was also the strength of Shirou's character. She knew that the reason he had been able to fight as hard as he did wasn't from some desire to prove himself, or to measure his own strength. The reason he had done so was because the elf had hurt Kirche. When he had been in that courtyard, his blows so fast that he resembled nothing more than a silver whirlwind given direction, he had been there for the redheads sake. He had been avenging her, fighting for the sake of her life and for the lives of the rest of the group. _

_ She had known that there was still fire left in him, had searched for it, had kindled it, and just as she always thought it would be it had been Kirche that had ignited it completely._

_ Honestly, and this still surprised Louise to her very core, if he hadn't done it then she would have herself. The very thought of someone hurting Kirche, her childhood tormentor, eternal thorn in her side, and the first person besides Henrietta to figure out her secret and yet guard it for her despite their childhood animosity had lit a fire in her that had surprised the pink haired girl with its intensity. She didn't blame Shirou for losing it like he did. If he hadn't, then there was a very good chance that there might have been an Explosion spell cast that would have dwarfed even the one she had cast at Tarbes._

_ She had laid with her eyes clothes, pretending sleep as Shirou and Guiche exchanged words. She knew that he was off doing something right now, something that he most likely would not be proud about later. She also knew that whatever it was he was doing might be the thing which kept them safe long enough to escape. Tomorrow, she would wait till they were alone and call him out on it. Depending on what it was she would either praise him or scold him for it._

_ But that was tomorrow. Right now, they had battled the evil monster, saved the princess, escaped the city, and were rolling fast towards freedom._

_ So Louise allowed herself to sleep, curled against recovering Kirche rather than her Servant, and dreamed about swords and battles._

_ And definitely not about kinky threesomes. Stupid Kirche, being all grabby in her sleep._


	22. Distant Utopia: The Twenty second night

The Hill of Swords: Distant Utopia: The Twenty-second night

Author's note: Here it is, the penultimate chapter of Hill of Swords. Before it begins, a few small things.

First off, the official theme music for this chapter is Emiya, from the F/sn soundtrack. I know a lot of people already knew that, and have no doubt in the past had it playing whenever Shirou was doing something appropriately badass. However, this is definitily the chapter I had in mind for that song, so you might just want to have it on in the background.

Next, and this might contain mild chapter spoilers so *Spoilers ahead*

This chapter can loosely be divided into three scenes. The first was one that I felt absolutely had to be in there. It was derived from the anime, and I wanted it there for Shirou to be able to have a moment to make peace with Tabitha. I'm rather fond of how it turned out, and it holds the handwave I promised a few chapters back when I accidentally screwed myself by saying Shirou could read before he was supposed to be able to. Hope I managed to explain away that little slip suitably.

The second scene was something I threw in there so there would be a chance for the heroes to recuperate between their escape and the final scene. I wanted to give the impression of time passing, but didn't want to just go from them being at the Gallian border to them being two countries away with no explanation. To do so I had to take a few liberties, and one of them involved Kirche's mother. I made her entirely out of cloth, folks. I decided to use the scene mostly as a way for Shirou to mention what had happened back at the castle, maybe get a few cheap laughs in before the final scene.

And then I wrote the final scene, saw what I had done and was satisfied, and when I looked back on the second scene it just seemed kind of useless. I really didn't like how it turned out, but decided to leave it in there anyway because it did serve a purpose. Let me know if you thought it was okay, or if you agreed with me and it should have just been scrapped.

And finally, the third scene. Jesus freaking H. Son of God Christ, please pardon my blasphemy, but this was a rush to write. I'd been planning this scene almost from the moment I started writing Hill of Swords, and still it was intense to write. It marks the single longest fight scene I had ever written, and despite having worried about dragging battle on too long in the past I couldn't think of any other way to write it. Pfew.

A heads up, something to mention anyway. I took quite a few liberties with Sheffield, as I mentioned in the past, but I think she came out as a believable character. Not much mention on the specifics of her items, but it really didn't seem necessary to go around giving every piece she used a name. This is another world after all so there's no reason she had to be using artifacts from Shirou's reality.

Still, the last chapter is also written now. I'll spend a day reviewing it and touching up any scenes, but expect it shortly. Very shortly. Like maybe tomorrow even.

As always, if you like it, let me know. If you don't, go ahead and explain why politely. And above all else, I hope you enjoy it.

*Chapter Start*

"Have you been up for long?" I asked, breaking the silence that had settled across the clearing as I addressed Tabitha. The blue haired girl was seated a couple dozen yards away from the rest of the group that was sprawled around the ground where we were camping.

"No," the quiet girl responded, her voice soft as she kept her eyes glued onto the book in her lap. She had placed herself in a puddle of moonlight, though I still doubted whether it was truly enough for her to actually be reading the book in her lap. Many times in the past I had seen her use the books not so much as instruments for reading but ways to occupy herself during uncomfortable moments. It wouldn't surprise me if she had the tome in her lap open more for the comfort of having it there then for any actual studying purposes.

It had been three days since we rescued the tiny girl seated in front of me and her mother. Three days of early mornings, long days of hard travel, and late nights of exhausted sleep. So far there had been no signs of pursuit. All things considered, it didn't surprise me.

I had made sure to leave a pretty strong message behind us after we left.

Tomorrow would be the day we finally crossed the Germanian border. Depending on how things went then this journey could either becoming very boring or very exciting.

"What are you reading?" I asked her, crossing the empty clearing to glance over her shoulder. I was so used to seeing her with her usual accessory in hand, but I don't think that I have ever once wondered precisely what it was that she was occupying herself with.

"It is called The Hero Ivaldi," she whispered back, shrinking down and bringing the book up so it covered the bottom portion of her face as she did so.

"The Hero Ivaldi?" I asked, surprised. I had always thought that the studios girl was studying whenever I saw her with a book in her hand. The idea that maybe she was simply reading for entertainment and not just for the purpose of education surprised me a little. "What's it about?" I asked, suddenly feeling cautious.

Root, if this was another one of that wretched series that Siesta and Louise loved so then I beg of you, grant me the strength to strike this abomination down quickly and with great prejudice.

"It is about a man who rescues a girl from a dragon," the ice user's soft voice responded. I sighed in relief. So far none of those tawdry romance books that had haunted my existence had ever had a plot nearly as complex as that. A sad statement in retrospect, but accurate nonetheless. Still, I had to be sure.

"It wouldn't happen to be by the same author of The Shephardess and the Passion of the Chevalier or A Country Maid in the Hall of the Duke?" I asked, my voice heavy with trepidation. When the small girl shook her head in the negative I let loose an explosive sigh of relief.

"Would," Tabitha began and then paused before continuing. "Would you like to read with me?" she asked shyly, her face still half hidden by the cover of her novel. I gave her a crooked half grin in response.

"I would, but reading your characters is strange for me," I admitted. Then I suppressed another grimace as a painful memory made itself known.

When I had began my research into trashy novels after Siesta became my official maid, I had been certain that it would be a simple enough thing. I had stolen the book, gone to the head chef, explained my predicament, and then asked him for his help so that I could discreetly learn the characters of this world. I had been full of confidence after glancing through the still unreadable romance novel. The characters of this world looked remarkably like the roman characters of my homeworld. I had figured that it would simply be a matter of me learning the syntax of the language and then I'd be set.

What a debacle that had turned out to be.

When I had first explained to the head chef that I feared that if I found myself in a situation like in the book with Siesta and wasn't prepared enough to defend myself that I might end up being ravaged, the chef had laughed out loud. He had agreed heartily to help me, apparently finding the idea of a noble not wanting to take advantage of a maid to be a novel concept and one entirely worth his support. He had invited me to his room after his shift was done so we could discretely begin working on the book in privacy later that night.

Ten pages into it the man had been in danger of passing out due to the blood flowing to his head from all his flushing. It was quickly apparent that he wasn't quite aware of just what his underlings were reading. He quickly found my concerns to be a lot less amusing after that.

It had taken me a while, but I had eventually managed to pound a basic understanding of the written tongue into my head, but it quickly made another problem very apparent:

I didn't speak this world's language.

It was easy to forget, seeing that apparently some part of the Master/Servant bond I shared with my Master, combined with her own malfunctioning void magic from her first attempt at shutting me up, that I was actually communicating with the world through some variety of translation spell. This spell went so deep as to be able to allow me to understand written characters, but for some reason it didn't translate metaphors or idioms very well.

Case in point. When the head chef had read a paragraph it had sounded as a somewhat poetic, albeit lewd, description of a sensual act of consecration. It used flowery imagery, and obscure metaphors to allude to the actions the two entirely consenting but apparently completely depraved characters depicted therein were doing.

When I read the paragraph, it had been like reading an obscure medical textbook detailing the deranged act of two mindless sex fiends.

The two translations amounted to the same thing in the end, but it made me very, very leery of indiscriminate reading in the future.

"Then I shall help," Tabitha assured me, bringing me back to the present. Slowly, with great reluctance but unwilling to shy away outright, I seated myself next to the smaller girl as she shifted the book so that I could see it as well.

Carefully, from the beginning, I began to read the book. On occasion Tabitha would point out the difference between what I was interpreting the text as and what was actually written. It was small things like the passage saying 'no use crying over spilt milk' and me reading 'an irreparable event happened', but after each one was pointed out to me I would go back and reread it and the words there would be different. For a time, the act of interpreting the text was enough for me to almost forget that we were out in the middle of the woods surrounded by enemy soldiers and on a desperate trek to the borders of a country which was probably only marginally less hostile. As our voices continued to drift through the clearing, I almost didn't notice as Tabitha began to relax, leaning closer and closer against me as she did so.

We were probably only at it for an hour or so, but eventually Tabitha closed the book. With a sigh, she relaxed even further, and I noticed just how much she was leaning on me. Rather than be put off by the tiny girl, I instead let her rest there. She was so small, relaxing against my chest, that it made it very easy to forget just how dangerous she could be now that I had resupplied her with a wand that I had acquired to make up for her broken staff.

"I have many memories of this book," the tiny assassin next to me admitted, her voice still soft but strangely more expressive than it usually was. I glanced down to see the young girl looking at the book in her lap with a small smile.

"I'm glad I'll have the chance to read it with you," I returned, a small smile of my own stretching my lips. As we sat together in the dark, I couldn't help but remember another small girl with light colored hair that had used to lean against me like this.

I closed my eyes and banished those memories, though not without regret. It had been many years since I had laid my poor sister Illyasviel to rest. Honestly, the two had very little in common in the first place. Illya had never had trouble expressing herself, though through a good portion of our relationship most of her expressions had been balanced somewhere between the childish and the murderous, with the murderous being predominant in the early part of our association. Even their features weren't too similar; white hair versus blue, red eyes versus blue once more. My departed sister, even when she wasn't actively seeking the death of those around her, was a vivacious, cheerful, an energetic girl who took joy in all aspects of life. This blue haired princess beside me was stoic, calm, reserved, dangerously competent when necessary, and at all times in nearly frightening control of herself.

I think in the end what caused me to associate the two was more ephemeral than that. They were both lonely girls, deprived of all but the most basic of contact with others: Illyasviel because she was being raised to be a vessel for the Holy Grail, Tabitha because those around her were actively seeking her death. The strength that had developed from that torturous upbringing lingered there in both of them.

I was glad that I had been able to save this slight frame resting against me in the quiet of the night.

At least between the two I managed to do so for one.

"You saved me," Tabitha whispered, her voice strangely hesitant as she did so, like a drop of water disturbing the silence that had settled between the two of us. "Thank you."

"I had promised you," I answered just as softly. I closed my eyes, feeling an immense wellspring of shame rise in me when I acknowledged to myself just how close I had been to breaking that promise. "It seems that now we are even," I forced myself to smile down at her. Inside, it felt as though a dagger was being driven into me.

"No," the girl responded, her voice rising slightly in vehemence. "No. You have already saved me once before. I am in your debt now," she shifted, glancing up at me, her expression set in earnest firmness.

"Once before?" I asked, not sure what she was referring to.

"That night," the blue haired girl said, not whispering, but her voice so naturally soft that it might have well as been. "When I betrayed you. You were going to kill me."

I winced, and tried to glance away. One of her slim white hands came up, touching my cheek and stopping me. With a deep breath I met her steady gaze. "Yes," I admitted. "I was."

"I knew that," she acknowledged back freely, her eyes soft and a small smile on her lips. "I knew it the moment they told me to kill you. I was afraid, but I was also ready. I had been alone so long, and was tired." Her eyes closed as she remembered the moment, her voice tight with pain. It was the longest I had ever heard the girl speak, and the most expressive as well. The sight of Tabitha, so young looking and so pale, bathed in moonlight while she confessed her heart to me was like a scene from a dream. Her eyes opened and she continued. "But then you spared me. You, who knew well what that meant in battle, spared one who moments ago was trying to kill you. And then you came for me, despite that I had turned my staff on you."

She leaned further against me, and one hand came up to rest lightly on my chest as she peered up at me with her blue eyes through the fringes of her bangs. If it had been Kirche doing such a thing, I would have simply sighed and carefully pried her off of me. With Tabitha it was different though. When this small girl whom had always been so alone, never reaching out to others, sought comfort from my presence I felt the urge to put one arm around her and give it to her.

The comfort, and adorable dollies and ponies and dresses.

"You saved me," the girl whispered, and then buried her face into my chest. I could feel her shaking lightly as she repeated the phrase which seemed to have become her life line. "And so I have decided: from now on, I shall be your Servant. Just as you protect Louise, I shall protect you."

I sighed softly. What a bold proclamation. If it had been anyone else I would have dismissed the claim off hand, doubting that the both the one who would have given its seriousness in that oath and their ability to fulfill it. But Tabitha was different. She was a girl who knew full well the dark side of the world, whom had endured the cruelest trials life had to offer. Armed once more with a wand that I had liberated from one of the nobles back at Alhambra castle who would no longer need such a thing she was no longer the delicate princess that needed to be saved. Once more she was mage capable of matching me in combat, a powerful and intelligent combatant.

I had no more right to attempt to dissuade her from her course of action that I had the right to try and dissuade Siesta so long ago when she had declared her intentions to me at the Fields of Tarbes. After all, it was an oath I too had made.

"That might be a good thing," a new voice interrupted our moment, and Tabitha jerked in surprise, pulling away from me slightly and flushing in embarrassment. I glanced over to where the voice had come from and found my Master standing there, looking unusually pale in the moonlight.

"Louise," Tabitha murmured, her voice uncertain at what the pink haired girl might have made of the scene. The tiny void user gave her a shaky smile, and my eyes narrowed. Something was wrong.

"He might need a little help. My Servant can be a bit reckless," my Master continued, her voice breaking as she did so. "And I won't be able to do it for a while." Louise let loose a shaky breath, sounding lost as she admitted something outrageous.

"What's wrong, Master?" I asked sharply, pulling loose from Tabitha so I could stand, instantly alert. Beside me the blue haired girl stood too, her new wand in her hand and ready in a moment.

"I'm empty, Shirou," Louise whispered, clutching her stomach as she did so. It sounded like the words shook her to her very core to admit. "It's all gone now. It's my willpower," she raised her eye to meet mine. "I'm completely out of willpower."

*Scene Break*

Crossing the border from Gallia to Germania had proven to be an interesting affair. The Gallian border had been on high alert, and every person attempting to leave had been searched carefully. There had been a tense moment when one of the guards had searched our wagon and discovered Tabitha and her mother, both still recovering from their ordeal at Alhambra and sleeping soundly. I had already been preparing to trace a weapon and cover the retreat of the others when I discovered something interesting about Gallian politics.

It turned out that not only was Tabitha's uncle a fratricidal asshole, but he was also incredibly unpopular with his subjects. I learned later that King Joseph was often called 'The Incapable King' by his own people. He was widely regarded as an idiot concerned with nothing more than playing games and looked down upon by his country at large. It seemed that maybe his relentless attempts to see Tabitha ended might have been more than just him being spiteful. He might have genuine reason to fear revolt. From the way the guard had quickly covered the two sleeping women and then loudly announced that this caravan was clear and to hurry up so he could search the next one was certainly a strong indication of the feelings of the populace in general.

Once over the border it had been another week of travel, this time much more restful and easy on us all, before we made it to the edge of the Zerbst holdings. Once we were there our traveling conditions became much more luxurious as Kirche had an opportunity to display that not only were the Zerbsts rivals to the Valliere in political and military power, but also financially. The moment we were safely ensconced in the Zerbst family manor we were as a whole showered with new rich clothing and fine food.

The day we arrived at Kirche's estate Louise had sent a messenger bird to Henrietta, updating her on our progress. It was only a day later when we got a return message back. The Queen of Tristain wanted us to hold tight for a few days while she cleared up our legal status. She'd send us a message when it was safe to cross over back to the Valliere manor, which despite being neighbors with the Zerbst estates was actually close to three days travel.

I took a moment at the time to shake my head at just how stupidly rich the two powerful families really were.

Still, Kirche took it as an opportunity to be able to treat the rest of us to the full extent of her capabilities.

"Has there been any sign yet of recovery, Master?" I asked Louise at my left as we sat with the rest of the rescue team taking tea in one of the elaborately decorated greenhouses that was attached to Kirche's house. Around us a small group of maids and butlers bustled about, bringing out various cakes and treats. Another small group kept trying to take the teapot that I had liberated from them back politely, though they had discovered that I was willing to fight tooth and nail for it. I had tried their tea already. It was crap.

Louise grimaced, not looking happy to talk about the subject. "No," she admitted, grumbling something about the interior fashion sense of the Zerbst manor under her breath before continuing. "Well, maybe, a little. It's hard to tell."

"It differs from person to person," Guiche assured from where he sat across from the two of us. He eyed the teapot in my hand greedily, and held his cup out for a refill. When I had first liberated the kettle he had been a little shocked that a warrior like me would be so willing to do something he considered to be nothing more than a task for the staff. Then he had tried a cup. Another successful convert was quickly apparent. "Shortly after I achieved line status I accidently drained myself while attempting to see the difference in my new power," he admitted, grimacing at the memory. "It took me nearly a week before I was able to cast again."

"It's been nearly a week," Louise snapped. She was definitely not taking her new status as being magically inert well. She kept twitching down to grab her wand, and then realizing what she was doing and putting it away. It was obvious she was tempted to start trying to cast a spell to see if she had recharged enough, but just as obvious she was worried that if she did she'd just empty herself out again. "Why isn't it filling faster?"

She asked the question to the room in general, but when she shot me a quick worried glance I caught it and knew what her real concern was. Yes, it might have taken Guiche, as an earth wielding line class mage a week to recover. But what about Louise? Her element was very different from the other four common ones. Her element was strange enough as it was, capable of achieving varying effects that at times seemed to disregard the usual rules of dot, line, triangle, and square class elemental recombination. What if her will recovered differently as well, charging itself according to rules she just didn't know? What if it never recovered at all?

Honestly, I wasn't worried about the last possibility. That Brimir guy had no doubt at one point or the other experienced something similar to this, and he seemed to turn out well. It seemed to me that in order for him to have designed as many different spells as he had he must have put some intense practice and study in, so he must have at some point or another found himself in the position of my Master. Derflinger had already assured her that it would recover. It seemed like a void user's willpower was in some way linked to their emotions. Louise understood intellectually that she would recover, but it didn't stop her from being nervous. She had gone most of her life not being able to use magic, and suddenly finding herself back in that position after having escaped it must have been maddening to her.

"Hey, Shirou," Malicorne mumbled through a mouthful of food from where he sat on Guiche's left, looking away from that rapidly growing stack of plates that had once held delectables on them that was piling up next to him. "Do you ever have to worry about willpower? What with your magic being like it is and all?" The chubby boy made a vague waving motion when he mentioned my magic. It seems that he believed that since my own was closer to Ancient magic than to theirs he was curious. The rest of the group paused and looked at me expectantly.

"Well," I admitted. "There was that one time I overused my magic circuits and ended up losing all feeling in the left side of my body for a few days." It was the closest thing I could think of to compare to my Master's situation. This caused the rest of the table to blink in surprise.

"Wait," Montmorency interjected from where she had been sitting quietly on Guiche's right. She had been generally silent since we had escaped Alhambra castle. It seemed her run in with combat had left her feeling pensive. Her brow knitted as she studied me in confusion. "Why would you lose all feeling? When a person runs out of will that's it, they just can't cast anymore. And what are magic circuits?" It looked like my past situation had managed to spark some professional curiosity out of the budding healer.

"Oh," I said, remembering that Montmorency hadn't been there when I had explained some of the differences in my homeworld's magic and this one's. For that matter, I don't think either her or Malicorne were even aware of the fact that I was from another world at all yet. "Well, in my homeland before we use magic we have to gain awareness of the circuits in our bodies and open them. Circuits are like the natural conduits that a person has for being able to channel prana. Magic," I corrected myself, seeing some confusion at the use of the word 'prana'. "In other words they're like blood vessels for magic."

"What does that have to do with you losing feeling?" Louise spoke up, eagerly listening to my explanation.

"Well it seems to me that when you all," I waved my cup of tea at the rest of the mages at the table to indicate this world's magic users in general, "run out of willpower you're simply just depleting your natural stores to a level to a minimum level. Kind of like the way a person can lose a lot of blood. Even if a person bleeds out a lot, and becomes unhealthy, they still have blood in their body." The other's listened on with interest as I described what must be a completely alien concept to them.

"That makes sense, I suppose," Montmorency nodded slowly. It looked like casting the explanation in a medical sense helped her a lot in comprehending the difference in the way we mused magic.

"Dangerous," Tabitha's soft voice spoke up from my right, drawing the looks from the rest. At some point in the past few days she had discovered the Zerbst library, and had restocked herself on differing reading material. The one in her hand looked like some kind of mathematical text with a number of complicated looking diagrams. It seemed that she had been paying attention, and had managed to latch onto a fact that the others hadn't quite caught.

"Dangerous?" Kirche asked from on the other side of Louise, looking curious.

"You know what happens when you lose too much blood?" I prompted her. When she blinked and realized what I was alluding to I nodded. "Well if I use too much magic it can damage my circuits, sometimes irreparably. If I use way too much, even death can result." Technically, I would first reach a point where I was completely empty, much like the way the mages here did. It's just that if I kept forcing, like I had in the past, then things could get messy. I was damn lucky that time that I hadn't completely wiped out my abilities as a mage entirely.

"Yes," Kirche admitted, nodding her head wisely. "That would be dangerous."

Louise seemed to notice something in particular and studied me with narrowed eyes. "Wait, does that mean you can tell how much magic you have left?"

"Yes," I admitted cocking my head to the side, wondering where she was going with that question. "Since I'm aware of my circuits I'm better able to judge their contents."

Louise nodded her head and crossed her arms. "Shirou! You're teaching me how to use magic like you after this!" she declared imperiously. I sighed.

"You know it's a process that might take years, don't you Master?" I asked slowly, trying to allude to the fact that this wasn't a way for her to instantly overcome her current difficulties.

"Well it's not like I have anything better to do at the moment," she mumbled, glaring down at her wand as though it had been the instrument that had caused her to be in this state.

"Personally, I don't think it would be a bad thing if your willpower never came back," Kirche declared, sniffing as she did so. She took another sip of her own tea, and sighed, the noise so sensual it was almost orgasmic. She gave me a look with lidded eyes so intense while her fingers played with the neckline of her blouse that for a moment I wondered if that might have actually been what happened.

"W-w-what!" Louise stuttered, her face turning red. With a clatter she leapt to her feet, slamming one hand on the table while pointing her other at the entirely too contented redhead next to her, her back arched like an angry cat. "What do you mean by that, Kirche? Are you looking down on me again! If you are, then magic or not…."

"If it never comes back, than you never have to risk your life like this again," Kirche explained, not put out at all by Louise's sudden tantrum. That made Louise blink as the realization that Kirche was worrying about her threw her for a loop. "This isn't the first time you've had to do something like this. I don't like the idea of any of my friends ever having to face this again." It seemed that her own near death experience might have put Kirche off her desire for adventure for a bit. Combined with the fact that Kirche was already aware of just what Louise's element was, it seemed like the fiery redhead was being perfectly serious when she said that she would rather Louise never have to worry about something so dangerous again.

"B-b-but," Louise managed to get out, and then slumped a little. She pouted, looking up from behind her bangs as she did so. "But I don't want my magic to never come back…"

Kirche stared at her for second, and then squealed, putting down her cup so she could frame her face with her hands. "Oh! You're just so adorable! Like a little puppy!" Without waiting another second the Germanian launched to her feet herself and once more hugged my Master's face into her bosoms.

"Mumble, murgle," Louise declared, waving her arms wildly as Kirche continued to clutch her tightly to her chest.

"I just want to steal you away!" the redhead continued, rocking back and forth as she did so. "I could dress you up in pretty clothes, and we could go shopping together, and we could go man hunting together!"

Louise braced both hands on Kirche's shoulders and managed to force her head back enough for her to shout, "Shirou! Help! Kirche is trying to change me into a mini-her!" That was as far as she got before Kirche displayed her awesome strength when it came to pulling people's heads into her cleavage.

"Better you than me, Master," I murmured, happy that for once it wasn't me trying to breath something other than a mouthful of breasts.

"Oh! Kirche," a new voice spoke out, and I glanced over to find that the Countess Zerbst had at some point joined the small tea party we were having. "What are you doing with that Valliere girl?" Though there had been some initial friction over Louise's presence in the halls of her ancestral enemy, when Kirche had passionately vouched for my Master's presence she had been reluctantly welcomed by the Countess. It seemed that the Count himself was out and about on family business, but so far Kirche's mother had proven to be an…interesting host.

It wouldn't be entirely accurate to describe Kirche's mother, Emma von Zerbst, as a bigger Kirche. Kirche had apparently been a quick bloomer, and the two of them were comparable in height. It also wouldn't be entirely inaccurate to describe her as a bigger Kirche. Kirche seemed to have inherited more than just her hair from her mother; another more noticeable thing the Germanian girl had inherited had been her figure.

The Countess wasn't quite in the same level as Tiffania when it came to bust size, but it was a far sight closer than any other I had seen in this world.

"I have decided to keep her!" Kirche told her mother, still cradling Louise to her chest as my tiny Master began waving her hands desperately around her. "Can I, Mother? Can I please?"

"Well," the Countess began, grinning wickedly. "We do have a history of stealing away Valliere women…"

Kirche squeeled in girlish glee and released Louise so she could hug her mother instead. "Oh! Thank you, Mother!"

"Shirou," Louise began, her eyes spinning as she looked dizzy from oxygen deprivation. "Why didn't you help me?"

"The only thing I might have accomplished is joining you, Master," I said solemnly. "If I had then there would have been no one to stop her when she tried to take you to her bedroom."

"Traitor," Louise muttered, still looking wobbly on her feet.

"Still," The Countess continued as she separated from her daughter. Kirche quickly returned to her seat, causing Louise to shrink away and try to use me as a shield from the amorous redhead. "I'm so glad that you all managed to get out of Gallia when you did. I've heard such dreadful rumors from there in these last few days."

"Rumors?" I spoke up, drawing the Countess' attention. I was interested to know what was going on the country we had just escaped from. So far, despite the fact that we had basically invaded their country, interfered with their justice system, and kidnapped their princess, there had been no word from the government about demanding our extradition. I found it alarming that there had been no public response yet.

We were already aware of just one branch of their government which took care of dirty secrets in private. The girl on my right had once been a member. Tabitha also looked up from her book, her attention drawn by potential news from the country which had nearly cost her both hers and her mother's life. If there had been no public response, than that probably meant we could look forward to a suitable private response soon enough.

"Yes," the Countess enthused, covering her mouth with one hand as she leaned in to share whatever gossip it was she had heard. "It seems that they had a run in with that beast, the King of Swords."

Across the table, Malicorne suddenly began choking on his cake.

"They say that he attacked the capital itself," the Countess continued, her eyes alight with joy as she regaled us with what the latest rumor apparently had cooked up. "They say that he slaughtered an army, and came within inches of killing the king himself!" Montmorency spat up her tea, turning her head to the side in order to avoid getting any on the Countess and instead drenching Guiche. "They say that in the end they had been forced to call on his personal guard, an elf of all things, and that the king managed to escape while the King of Swords was killing the thing."

"But, that's outrageous," Kirche spoke up, and her mother nodded, laughing as she did so.

"Indeed! To think, that they would claim a brute like that to be able to kill an elf!" She laughed at the thought of it.

"No, that happened," Kirche corrected her mother. "It's just that we were at Alhambra Castle, not the capital. And he didn't kill the guards, just the elf." The Countess stopped laughing, and instead stared at her daughter as Kirche confidently corrected the outlandish rumor.

"That's right," Montmorency added, sounding puzzled by just how strange the rumors had changed from what had actually happened. "The guards should have woken up fine the next day." Beside her, Guiche gulped, shooting me a nervous look.

I looked to the side, studying the green house at large innocently. Louise noticed, and narrowed her eyes at me in suspicion.

"Ha," the Countess finally managed to start laughing again. "Do not jest so, daughter," she scolded Kirche. "There is no way a simple swordsman would be able to kill an elf. Even a mage would not be able to…"

"But why would they have rumors about killing an army, or even him attacking the king?" Malicorne spoke up. It seemed that this was the first time most of the group had actually experienced just how badly word of mouth could blow things out of proportion.

"Well!" Guiche proclaimed, his voice sounding like he was trying his best to force himself to be jovial. "Isn't this a fantastic tea! Shirou, you don't mind if I have another cup?"

Unfortunately, my Master was already experienced enough with how the rumor mill worked to not be distracted from her glaring at me. "Shirou," she said firmly. "I know you hung back when we were fleeing. What did you do exactly?" Tabitha looked at me as well, her face expectant.

"Come now," Kirche's mother tried again, sounding uncertain of just why the six of us were taking what she probably saw as a joke so seriously. "Surely this is all…"

"I crucified the elf's body in the center courtyard, cut the heads off the nobles and left them in a pile at its feat, and then cut the right arms off of every other soldier and left them in two more piles on either side," I admitted shamelessly, and then took a sip of my tea.

The maids and butlers, along with the Countess all froze solid at my gruesome confession. Even the rest of the rescue party looked a little green at my casual description of my dismemberment of so many people, and they had all been perfectly aware of just what I was capable of.

Louise sighed, and began rubbing her forehead. "Why?" she asked, sounding like she was regretting lacking the ability to shoot an explosion at me.

I shrugged. "That was what I did at Saxe-Gotha," I pointed out. "I wanted the rest of the guard to wake up the next day, see the elf and get scared, and then see what I did to the rest of them, correlate the story with the ones that were coming out of Albion since the war, and put it together on their own. I wanted them so terrified that it would take them at least a day to report it back to the government, and shaking too hard to even think of chasing us themselves. It wasn't like I could just leave a note that said 'the King of Swords was here' or something."

"Y-you. You're the King of Swords?" the Countess gaped, staring at me and turning white.

"That makes sense," Louise admitted, and then apparently dismissed my brutality herself. "Now I think Guiche was right. This is fabulous tea. May I have another cup?"

"Certainly, Master," I answered her, smiling politely and giving her a top off. The rest of the students seemed to get over their brief moment of shock and all as one offered their cups as well, even Tabitha.

"You're really the King of Swords?" the Countess repeated, now looking flushed as she did so.

"Oh, did I forget to mention that earlier?" Kirche turned to her mother, and then seemed to notice her expression. "Wait! Hand's off mother! He's mine!" The redhead launched herself from her seat and reached out to latch onto me. Since Louise was sitting between the two of us she yelped when she suddenly found herself back where she had been just a few moments before, only this time with company.

"Kirche!" the Countess scolded her daughter, and from my position once more attached to the younger Germanian's chest I could make out her expression. It somehow filled me with nameless dread. "What have I taught you about sharing?"

"Well, I suppose I could let you join in, Mother," the redhead admitted, sounding as though she found the idea to be not at all off putting.

Heaven's-freaking-Feel, was everyone that was raised in this country some kind of pseudo-libertine?

I began to panic as the Countess began to inch closer, my Master joining in when she realized that she was apparently now considered part of the packaged deal. My eyes darted to the side, and I called desperately to the only one there who could help. "Tabitha! Quick! Get us out of here!"

"If I do so, there will be no one to stop them from taking you to the bedroom," she repeated my earlier statement, turning back to her book. It seemed that I might not have been the best example while she was deciding just how she was going to go about being my Servant.

*Scene Break*

"Finally," Louise gasped, clutching me as she shook with relief. "Finally, the dark days are over."

"We're free," I exalted, tears of joy nearly escaping as I clenched a fist into the air. "Free, Master, free!"

"Oh that was so much fun!" Kirche enthused, sounding exuberant over how the last few days had gone. "You all simply must come again some time! Mother will be so happy to have you visit again!"

"NO!" my Master and I shouted in unison, shuddering in terror at the thought of once more returning to that den of sin. I wasn't sure if that was what she was normally like, or if the thought of being able to bed an infamous war hero and the daughter of their long time rival had driven her over the edge, but however flirtatious Kirche was and no matter how far the younger Germanian was willing to push the edge of propriety her mother existed on a whole other level. I have never faced a more relentless cougar in all my life, and prayed dearly to the Root that I never did again.

I promised to sacrifice a village of orcs to it for at least having made certain that the Count had never shown up during his wife's pursuit of me. I had little doubt he would have been compelled at some point to try and take my life in order to keep her away from me.

At least I hoped he would have reacted with murderous intentions. The idea that maybe he might have tried to join in as well filled me with such horror that I was compelled to lock it away so deeply in my mind that it would never be able to escape and haunt me again.

"Well," Malicorne pointed out slowly, uncertain at the intelligence of drawing attention to himself while both Louise and I were so on edge. "At least we managed to get rid of those silly disguises."

"I don't know," Kirche answered, putting a finger on her lips as she contemplated that point. "I kind of liked mine."

"That's because you weren't a clown," the chubby boy mumbled back, plucking at his uniform.

"Kyuui! Irukukuu liked the clown!" the still disguised as a girl dragon proclaimed, smiling brightly at the chubby boy. Malicorne started to smile back, and then seemed to remember precisely what the speaker actually was and sighed again.

It had been two days after Kirche's mother had decided to join her daughter in her attempts to ravage me that we had finally received word from Henrietta that it was now safe to return. We had been there for close to a week at that point, more than enough time for us to find new outfits to wear. Guiche, Malicorne, Montmorency, Tabitha, Kirche, and Louise all were once more dressed in uniforms appropriate for the Tristain academy of magic. Only Irukukuu and I were wearing different clothing. The dragon had settled on a simple one piece dress, something she wouldn't mind losing once we crossed the border and she resumed her original shape. I myself had been able to find a simple change of pants and a long sleeve shirt that I could pull low enough to cover my runes when necessary. That had been until Kirche had described my older outfit to her mother. Apparently there had been something about the matching draped cloak and sleeves that had appealed to the younger Germanian, and so she had insisted on their tailors making me a new version of it. Originally they had tried to make me a red version of it, but I had been adamant that I would never wear that one so they had switched back to blue. I would admit to finding the familiar garments to be somewhat comfortable, though in truth they were a great deal more elaborate than my original set.

We had set out a day ago to begin our final return to Tristain, though Kirche had insisted that we let Tabitha's mother stay behind at her manor. Tabitha had agreed, and the Countess had promised to do everything they could to try and treat the older woman's madness, something which had relieved the quiet blue haired girl immensely.

"It's amazing, isn't it?" Guiche spoke up, the blond haired noble smiling softly as he leaned against the seating of the carriage.

"What?" Montmorency asked from where she was sitting next to him. Outside we could hear the whinnies of the horses as the alvis coachmen continued to steer us closer and closer to the Germanian/Tristain border.

"We did it. We really did it," the male blond announced, still smiling. "We actually managed to defy an entire country, rescue our friend, and make it out alive."

His girlfriend smiled back slowly. "Yes, we really did," she sighed, and then leaned over to snuggle against his shoulder.

"I thought for sure we were goners when we ran into the elf," Malicorne confessed, smiling sheepishly.

"I had faith that the power of my Darling's love for me would protect me!" Kirche announced, latching onto my arm and sinking it into her cleavage. I welcomed the move. It was positively tame compared to some of the things the Germanian's mother had tried. Across from the redhead Tabitha smiled, not looking up from the book in her lap.

"It was pretty close a few times back there," Louise added, seeming to relax a bit as it dawned on the group as a whole that the adventure was almost over. "Like when Kirche's mom double teamed us after dinner that one time, or when she deliberately had the maids lead us to the same bath where she was waiting…"

"I think they were talking about the parts before that," I pointed out to pink haired girl dryly, and she gave me her own half grin back.

"Those parts were easy," she proclaimed, crossing her arms and nodding sagely. "It was afterwards that…"

The only warning we received was the sudden sound of the horses panicking, and then an earthquake struck. The carriage shook savagely, being rocked violently back and forth before finally upturning completely, spilling us all onto the side as it did so. There was a shattering sound, and I heard one of the horses scream in pain as it apparently lost its footing in the unexpected upheaval and fell, probably as one or more of its legs were snapped. Somehow in the middle of it I managed to wrap my body around Louise, even as she as well as the rest of the rescue party cried out in pain and shock.

When the earth stopped moving I began to unwrap myself from around my Master's tiny frame when a sound cut through the sudden silence like a dagger, causing me to freeze.

"Gandalfr!" It was a voice laced with hatred, echoing through the small confines of carriage. It was a voice I recognized.

Originally I had planned on climbing out the other side of the carriage, the side that was pointing upwards now that we had been tumbled onto our side. But at that voice my eyes tightened. Instead of trying to negotiate my way out through climbing, I traced a blade and simply split the carriage in half. The other's squawked at the sudden presence of swinging steel that had erupted, but they froze once they saw what awaited us outside. I felt my lips clench into a snarl.

It was monstrous. During the Holy Grail War my allies and I had often referred to Berserker as the black giant. Compared to this gleaming composite of dark steel even Hercules paled. It stood taller than a house, taller than a tower, taller nearly twice over then even Fouquet's enormous golem had been. It was a golem itself, I was sure of it, but like no golem I had yet seen. It was clad every inch of it in a suit of armor like one would expect any human knight to wear, and clenched in its hand as it stood before us was a blade which stretched nearly as tall as the thing stood. I could notice no tracks leading up to it, meaning that it must have somehow come from the sky, most likely having leapt from some point distance. The sheer weight of the metal and whatever the hell it was made out of had been enough to shake the earth when it landed. Around its feet the ground had shattered out away like fractures from broken glass. Its sword alone, even without the rest of it taken into account must have weighed many hundreds of tons.

And standing on its shoulder, where my reinforced eyesight had sought her, was none other than Myoznitnirn.

"Gandalfr!" she shrieked again, and she must have been using some artifact in order to let her voice cross the distance between us. She stood uncloaked, in the same outfit as before. On her forehead her runes gleamed unnaturally bright, and just as before her hair was whipped around her, though it this was once more due to her power or simply to whatever breeze was blowing that high I didn't know, and nor did I care.

With a snarl, I clenched my fists, striding forward till I was between her and my allies. "Myoznitnirn," I growled, feeling my teeth clench as I forced out the hated word.

Neither one of us moved as we stared down the other, not even when I heard Tabitha declare in a voice which was nearly as loud as a normal speaker for anyone else but for her was almost shouting. "She's come for me," the blue haired girl declared as she darted to the side, trying to move away from the rest of us. "Sylphid," she ordered, even as she began to chant. Her new staff, one provided by Kirche's family along with her clothes leveled at the figure perched on the giant and she began to chant.

"Yes, big sister!" the dragon shouted, leaping into the air. The blue haired girl's body shimmered for a moment, and then the dress that she had been wearing burst as the human shape was transformed once more into that of her more reptilian self. At the same time Tabitha completed her spell, and a spire of ice, ground down into a lethal looking point was launched at the woman standing on the giant's shoulder.

Myoznitnirn didn't even look at her, or even attempt to block the attack. A dozen yards away from when the spear would have struck it stopped, and was repulsed in a violent motion, the sudden change in direction shattering the attack and a fine scattering of ice fell like snow down on us.

Not once did the Servant's eyes leave mine.

"Begone, trash," the Mind of God ordered, not even looking at the shocked princess. "It's not you I'm here for."

Tabitha was frozen, and then her eyes darted behind me towards where Louise was standing. My Master let loose a frightened breath and began to back away slowly. Kirche, whom had been glancing between Tabitha, the giant in front of us, and myself, seemed to realize what that meant. The fierce Germanian girl leapt forward, putting herself between the giant and my Master.

"You're not getting Louise!" the fire user declared, her voice sounding fierce and angry. This was a girl whom had been willing to risk facing a country alone to save the last friend of hers that had been in trouble. There was no doubt in my mind that Kirche would risk everything yet again if that was what was called for to save her other friend as well.

"I do not know for what reason you seek her, but if you want Louise you'll have to go through us," Guiche declared, also leaping forward to stand between the giant and my Master. Guiche. How far he had come, from a boy willing to blame another for his own mistakes to one who was willing to risk himself against a foe he knew he couldn't possibly match for the sake of another.

Myoznitnirn didn't seem too impressed. From her perch on her giant golem she slashed the air angrily with one hand. "I've already said I'm not here for you trash. Leave now so that I may crush the Gandalfr before I change my mind!"

"Shirou," Louise gasped, and they finally understood why the giant was here.

"I've been waiting for this day, Myoznitnirn," I said softly. "Did you enjoy my gift? It didn't seem fair that only you would so brazenly come to another's home and trample on their pride. I thought I would return the favor." There was a reason I had wanted the title of 'King of Swords' to be written all over Alhambra castle. It might have been coincidence, that Tabitha who had been ordered by the Servant in front of me directly would be captured so thoroughly afterwards. It might have been coincidence that something so powerful had been sent for her after her failure specifically. But then again…

Despite the great distance between us, my enemy heard, and I could see her grind her teeth together in rage. The giant under her, still for so long, shifted, the noise of great steel plates clashing against great steel plates echoing through the otherwise silent valley. "It cost my Master more than you could ever imagine to secure the elf to his side," she snarled at me. "Did you think you could so brazenly challenge us and walk away unimpeded, Elf Killer?" she snapped at me.

My grin was feral in response. "Walk away? Why would I do that? I'm going to walk over you, Myoznitnirn. I'm going to grind my boot into the back of your dead skull when I do so. And then I'm going to find your Master, wherever he is, and send him to join you."

"Enough!" the enraged Servant shrieked, and the giant beneath her shifted again, its movements quick and angry. "You dog! You dare speak of my Master in that way! You dare!"

"Master," I spoke over my shoulder without taking my gaze from my enemy. "It is time you and the others depart."

"No," Louise gasped, realizing what I meant to do. "You can't! Shirou, this isn't like the elf! Look at it!"

"This is my unrefusable request, Master," I answered back quietly without looking. "Go. We Servants," I gestured slightly at myself and the giant before me, "we are weapons of war, Master. We are tools to be used against each other. It is time for Servants to battle. And when Servants battle, there is no place for their Masters on that field."

"I will stay," Tabitha spoke up, the blue haired girl's voice firm. "I will help you, Master."

"Tabitha," Kirche whispered, sounding shocked at the title the Germanian's friend had used for me.

"No. This is my order to you, if you will be my Servant: guard my Master in my stead until I return. Safeguard her from any treachery that might lay in wait." I pointed my arm to the side, towards the nearby border. "Now go." For a moment I heard nothing behind me. I repeated my order, this time shouting, "GO!"

Small arms wrapped around me from behind, and I felt a face press against my back. "Win, Shirou," my Master ordered me, and I felt two pits of hot moisture form against my back where her tears soaked into my shirt. "That's my order to you. An absolute order! Two of them! Win and come back!"

"Understood, Master," I whispered to her, and then her arms were gone. I heard noises behind me, as my friends boarded Irukukuu, and then I heard the noise of wind being pumped below great wings.

And then it was just me, and my enemy in the valley.

"You were not meant to be like this," Myoznitnirn growled, the giant beneath her twitching again, and this time it moved. The enormous thing shifted both its legs, and the sword that had been planted in the ground shuddered as its enormous fists tightened around its hilt. "You are just the Gandalfr, the Shield of God. You are nothing but a bodyguard, a meat shield that stands above the rest of these ants in no other way than being lucky enough to have been touched by those who wield the true power of the void! I had not thought I would find a foe worthy of me until at least the Right Hand of God, God's Sword, was found. But somehow you were powerful. Too powerful! If you are allowed to live then you might truly threaten my Master's plan. So die. Die here and now for my Master, Gandalfr!"

"You'll be able to lament your Master's failure of judgment in hell, Myoznitnirn," I promised her, my voice thick with bloodlust. "Even without my class, I would have been enough for whatever pathetic soul called one as detestable as you."

Trace on.

In my left hand sprouted my bow. In my right, a nameless blade.

*Scene Break*

_ "Land here," Louise ordered Tabitha. They hovered above the edge of the valley that they had left Shirou in, and already behind them they could hear the sounds of battle. Montmorency was desperately hiding her face in her boyfriend's chest. Guiche had one arm wrapped around the shaking blond girls body, but his head was firmly locked so that his gaze could follow the battle that was unfolding behind them. A roar echoed through the air. Whatever that thing that was even now attempting to kill their friend was, it had lungs and a cry which shattered the air when it was released. Just the thought of being back there, of having to fight against whatever that titan of steel was, was enough to send chills down the spines of all of them._

_ "Master ordered to keep you safe," Tabitha disagreed, but Sylphid was already responding to the blue haired girl's subtle commands, delivered through pressure at the base of the dragon's neck._

_ "And you can keep me safe over here just as well as you could elsewhere," Louise snapped back, but noticed how eager Tabitha was to land the dragon as well. "But if you think I will leave my Servant behind just because he told me to go, then you must be as insane as he is."_

_ Sylphid landed on a cliff which overlooked the battlefield. Even before the dragon's wings had finished beating or her claws were on the ground, Louise was off the dragon's back and standing at the edge, her amber eyes locked on the conflict below. Tabitha was beside her nearly as quickly. Kirche was only a moment behind, and Guiche a moment after. The blond boy would have been faster, but it had taken him a few seconds to properly extract himself from his terrified girlfriends grip. Montmorency couldn't bring herself to join, and even hearing the strange bellow of the titan below was enough to send her to shaking. When Guiche pulled himself free of her, she instead latched on to the nearest form, that being Malicorne. The chubby boy shook as well, and held onto her back. _

_ As the battle below them unfolded, Louise once more found her wand in her hand. Her fingers clenched around it rhythmically. This was different from all the other battles her Servant had ever fought. At Saxe-Gotha he had faced enormous numbers, but those numbers had been human. He could fight them, wound them, sow fear into them, confuse them, and escape from them. When he had fought the elf it had been different too. Yes the elf had powers, strange and terrifying powers: powers that when added to the sheer enormity of its lifespan and experience made it a terrifying foe that most would never be able to stand against, but it had been flesh and blood and could die. But against this thing? This monstrosity of steel and magic, and even more against another like Shirou himself, a Servant with a treasure trove or artifacts that could match, might even surpass, his own? _

_ Shirou had told her to go. It had been without his usual cockiness, his snarky confidence, and cool cynicism. She had woken the fire in her Servant, and now it was being unleashed against her enemies. _

_ She could only hope that it would be enough._

*Scene Break*

Fast. Whatever that thing was that she was riding, if it really was a golem like I had thought originally, it was fast. This was on another level than the lumbering thing that Fouquet had pitted against me. The clay golem from so long ago had been slow and predictable made dangerous only by the fact that it had hundreds of tons of rock behind each strike. This thing, this black giant, moved as a human would if a human could grow to such proportions. It balanced itself well, and each strike it made was as precise and sure as a thing that size could make itself.

Each time that enormous sword of its swung down the ground I had been standing on would shatter, great gouges of sod and dark earth being thrown into the air. On its shoulders Myoznitnitn somehow managed to maintain her footing. Her shrieks of, "Die! Die! Just die you dog!" could be heard even over the thunder of the valley being shattered around us.

Once more, just as it had when I faced the elf, beneath my sleeve my runes were glowing. I could almost feel my speed and strength being increased more and more as the glow continued to grow. I didn't know if this steadily growing power was me in some way siphoning mana from my Master like the Servants I knew of in the past did, or if it was simply some hereto undiscovered function of my class. Whatever it was, it was only this new speed I was finding combined with my own reinforcing that kept me from being crushed like an insect by the mountain of steel which was coming down at me with each swing.

As I darted across the terrain, my eyes tracking between the ground I was racing across and the beast above me I was attacking back. The bow in my left sung, a near constant humming noise from its string sounding like some poorly tuned guitar as I fitted it with sword after sword as I launched my own attacks back at the thing in front of me.

"This is useless, Gandalfr!" Myoznitnitn shouted down at me, a shrill laugh echoing after her words. "Where's the arrow you used on me before? The one that even wounded me? Come now! You can do better than this pathetic attempt!"

The blades I was releasing now were simple things. They were nothing more than mundane swords that I had adjusted to suite my needs for the moment. It had only taken my first shot to reaffirm what I had suspected from the moment Tabitha's one attempt had revealed: this thing was enchanted with Counter magic.

It must have taken an insane expenditure of money, magic, and manpower to do so, and it was entirely possible that whatever defense it wielded wasn't actually Counter itself. It could just be some kind of force field or similar defensive spell, maybe something as simple as a wall of air. Whatever it was, I had wasted only one attempt at striking down the Servant herself, an attempt which had proven as futile as Tabitha's, before I shifted my aim to try other targets. The behemoth's eyes first, then its mouth, then it's shoulders, then it's elbows. One by one I selected targets on the creature that would correspond with weak points on a human's body. One by one each attempt was rebuffed. I had considered that whatever defensive spell this thing had it would be focused on its rider. It simply seemed too insane that they would expand the effort to cover the entire creature. It was already damn near unstoppable as it was due to its shear mass.

This was too much. My eyes narrowed. This was far too much effort expanded simply for the sake of killing me. This would have required weeks, months, maybe even years of effort. The forging of the armor, the creation of whatever thing lay within, the enchanting of the whole thing; this was simply too much.

Whoever it was behind all this must have been planning for more than just coming out to kill one swordsman, however highly they regarded him.

Still, the revelation could wait. Right now all that mattered was the battle. Right now my battle was being fought on two fronts: the first was the physical one that the giant represented. The other was the internal one. I was not a superbly powerful mage. I had limits on my energy. Against this thing, those limits could be thrown away carelessly and wouldn't be enough. If I was going to beat this giant, kill that bitch on its shoulders, and still survive to walk away, I would have to be absolutely certain of my course of action before I committed.

I had felt out the things defenses long enough. Regardless of the fact that I was somehow managing to keep ahead of the insanely agile titan's attacks, the battlefield was slowly growing more and more ragged. The chances of me tripping, of dying for the sake of a stone, were growing higher and higher. It was time for me to give Myoznitnirn exactly what she wanted.

The blade that came to my right hand this time caused the Servant I was facing to widen her eyes in recognition. Once more Caliburn gleamed under the light of the sun. The giant in front of me hesitated, and I saw the runes on my target's forehead glow even brighter. The titan's moves ceased as its commander waited. She wanted this. The last time I had shot this blade at her, it had very nearly killed her. She had been unprepared, had never even considered that I might actually be able to hurt her. She wanted to face it again, to once more see it unleashed upon her, and for it to fail, not because of a fluke defensive measure she had on only out of habit, but because she had beaten it.

The blue and gold sword in my hand twisted, becoming something aerodynamic and lethal looking.

Myoznitnirn's eye's narrowed and she bared her teeth at me in a feral grin. She was ready for it.

I knocked the deadly arrow, and then showed my teeth back. Od pumped through me, flooding the blade in my hand. It became fragile. It became dangerous.

It became broken.

Power crackled around the sword in my bow, lancing around it like lightning. Myoznitnirn's eyes shot open, recognizing something different had happened. The giant, which had been standing passively awaiting my attack flinched, and its arm rose quickly.

Not quickly enough. "Fly, Caliburn," I whispered. I released the arrow.

The Sword that Chooses chose, and like a valkyrie of legend it chose well. It shrieked, shedding lightning in its path as it closed in on the forehead of the now flinching away Myoznitnirn. The giant's arm closed in on its path….

*Scene Break*

_ "Brimir's balls," Kirche swore loudly as the air of the valley echoed with the noise of Shirou's attack._

_ "What?" Guiche asked, rubbing his ears as he did so furiously. The noise of whatever the hell it was their friend down below had done had cut the air with a roar so furious that it had left their ears ringing._

_ "I said, 'Brimir's balls,'" Kirche repeated loudly, rubbing her ears as well. Guiche seemed to understand that time and nodded his agreement with the blasphemous oath._

_ "They're saying something," Louise muttered, her eyes locked on the scene. "Tabitha, can you…" The pink haired girl turned to the blue haired girl and blinked when she realized that Tabitha had her head cocked to the side and looked focused like she was listening to something. Kirche noticed as well and blinked in surprise._

_ "Tabitha, are you using an air spell to listen in on them from up here?" the redhead asked, sounding disbelieving. When the blue haired girl nodded, the Germanian squawked in indignation. "And you aren't letting the rest of us hear? Hurry up and expand the spell!"_

_ With a nod, Tabitha waved her wand, and suddenly two more voices were audible on the cliff side._

*Scene Break*

For a moment, there was only silence. Then a voice spoke. "What was that, Gandalfr? Again, why could I not claim it?" I said nothing in response, simply watching as the giant righted itself. "My Master was right to grant me use of Jormungand. You must be destroyed. Even if it takes this giant to do so, then you must die here and now."

Jormungand. Was that the name of the thing my foe rode on? If so, then I hope she was never summoned to the Rider class. Some things were just too cheap. Whatever this Jormungand was, it was apparently enough to stop even a broken Caliburn. Well, maybe not stop it. It seemed like just as it had so long ago I was stopped from killing my foe by means of sheer physics. As it had against Fouquet, the sheer mass of the arm, combined with the defensive magic it bore, had been enough to deflect my attack.

At least this time it was unlikely that anyone would complain about a hill being destroyed. Not when compared to what the two of us had done to this valley already.

As the titan in front of me lowered its arms I saw as Myoznitnirn once more came into view. She was no longer laughing maniacally. She was no longer even sneering or growling at me. When we first met, she had been laughing and distaining. The second time she had been cautious and calculating. This time she had been enraged and blood thirsty. Now, though…

Now I wasn't an amusing thing to play with, or potentially dangerous foe, or a hated enemy.

I was something which could truly threaten her Master. And as such a threat, I would be erased. It seems the times for games and testing was over. Now we both knew that what stood before us must be erased with all of our power.

"Die, Gandalfr," the Servant before me ordered, her voice quiet and commanding. Beneath her, the giant shook itself like a dog, and from the cracks and crevices of its armor small shapes began to descend. I watched as they fell, noting where they landed, and as each shape unfolded itself, rising to attention.

Alviss. It was like watching a dark rain fall around the behemoth. Not only had she brought that titan to this showdown, but she had apparently at some point squirreled away an army of alviss with her.

It seemed I was no longer being underestimated.

The Jormungand stood back, its arm and sword held upright to defend itself. On its shoulder Myoznitnirn stood, watching carefully. Beneath it the hoard of dispatched alviss began to close on me. It looked like she was no longer taking any chances. With the walking castle to defend her, she would stand by and guard against any more attacks like Caliburn while waiting for the hoard itself to slowly tear me apart.

"Derflinger," I said, addressing the sword at my shoulder as I dismissed my bow.

"Yeah, partner?" the sword spoke up. It sounded resigned. It had watched the same as I as the hoard had assembled.

"You remember, on the hills of Saxe-Gotha?" I asked, reaching up to draw the ancient blade. It hissed against my scabbard, the promise of steel before battle.

"Yeah, I do. So tell me, partner: this isn't suicide, running in, right? You have a plan? One in fifty?" it asked, its voice somber as it did so.

"No," I answered back. "Not that. You asked me about my spell. Remember?"

"Oh yeah," the sword murmured, and then it perked up. "Wait, do you mean I'm finally going to be able to hear the rest of it?" it sounded eager. "Yes! I always wondered how it would finish!"

"Well, it looks like you'll finally know," I told it, my voice soft. The blade in my hand was warm, and the hoard in front of me was close.

"I am the bone of my sword," I whispered, and the first of them were upon me. Derflinger flashed and they were cut down. The tiny alviss fell as it bit into them. Just like at the orphanage outside of Saxe-Gotha the moment the magic drinking sword struck it severed the spellwork keeping the little things mobile. More awaited behind them.

"Steel is my body, and fire is my blood," my voice rose as I continued chanting. Within me, I felt my circuits begin to hum. This was more than just me calling forth one of my blades, more than just me tracing. The bodies of the Alviss began to pile as the blade in my hand continued to drink deeply of the things. As they fell the runes on their foreheads denoting them belonging to the Servant across from me flickered and died.

"I have created over a thousand blades," I chanted, and I felt it, deep within me. This was more than magecraft, more than projecting a simple irregularity into nature. This was deeper, this was wider.

"Unaware of loss, nor aware of gain," my voice grew as the piles of the broken dolls around me also grew. On the back of her giant, Myoznitnirn shifted, listening to me even across the distance.

"What are you doing, Gandalfr?" she said, her voice soft but somehow still audible. It must be the result of one of her innumerable artifacts.

"I have withstood pain to create weapons!" I declared, the proclamation loud now, audible even above the rickety din that the innumerable puppets closing in on me produced.

"You have no chance, Gandalfr," my enemy told me, her eyes narrowing, her own voice growing. She didn't know what I was doing, but she knew enough to recognize my confidence in it. It unnerved her. This wasn't the actions of a doomed man. This was how someone who still believed they could win would act.

"Waiting for one's arrival, I have no regrets!" I shouted back, and in my mind I saw Saber's face. My entire body was hot, raw magic coursing through me. This was it. This was the pinnacle of my achievements. Deep within me, in the dark places that I still hadn't searched, in the unfound and unknown regions of my soul, circuits that I still couldn't call upon flared to life.

"You are just a swordsman!" Myoznitnirn shrieked back, her eyes narrowed in rage. The giant beneath her trembled, half responding to unspoken orders that she didn't realize herself she was projecting to it.

"This is the only path," I swore, and it was more than an aria or an incantation to me. It was an oath. This was the truest face of my soul, the reality of my existence. Around me alviss leapt to tear me down, and were cut down instead. Derflinger was a wall of silver in my hand, the runes of Gandalfr a star to match it. This was my one true spell, my only ability. Everything else was just an expression of it. This was what my body was made to do, what it had been forged to do, what my whole life had pushed me to do.

"Swords are not enough to win this battle, Gandalfr!" the Servant across from me shrieked, her declaration mixed with the endless chatter of an army of dolls.

"All my life had been: Unlimited Blade Works," I whispered, my voice firm.

And fire erupted from me. It was bright, too bright, yet cold as well. It swept away from me, impossibly fast, in a circle, ever widening. And where the fire burned, the world changed. Before its passage was green grass marred by shattered earth below blue skies. After its passage there was hard packed dust, reddish brown and desolate. The sky changed as well. What once had been blue and clear was now dark, a dusky cloud ridden thing, the only light that made itself known was from the horizons, a dawn that would never come. Intermixed with the clouds, set as though upon nothing were gears, some turning by themselves, hung alone and solitary, others intermeshed in an insane clockwork that defied description.

And littering into the rust colored earth, spreading over the entirety of this strange and desolate panorama, were swords. Endlessly strewn about, buried blade first, their hilts like strange solemn gravestones littering all that the eye could see as they surrounded me and my enemies.

The world froze. The alviss around me were like statues as the will behind them was arrested, stunned by the impossible visa that now surround her. On the back of her Jormungand, Myoznitnirn stood frozen, her eyes wide, even the runes on her forehead flickering as her shock, her terror, coursed through her. This was unreal, this was insane, and yet somehow, this was now reality.

"Gandalfr," she whispered, "What have you done?"

"Do you like it?" I asked her back, my own gaze locked on the horizon, on the sunrise that would never come, not here. Casually, I sheathed Derflinger, the blade itself seemingly unable to bring itself to speak at what my spell had wrought.

"What is this, Gandalfr?" There was no hostility in her voice, no antagonism. This was beyond such things. It pleased me to see that my chosen enemy recognized the feat I had performed for her.

"It's called a Reality Marble," I told her, still not looking at her. "Don't be surprised if you've never heard of it. Even in my homeland, where things beyond your comprehension occur regularly, this is rare. In all of history there have been perhaps six, maybe seven humans, including myself, who have ever achieved this."

"What is this, Gandalfr?" she repeated unable to bring herself to be more verbose or explicit. I didn't blame her.

"It is the true expression of my inner most self, the projection of my internal perception of reality onto the world itself," I told her softly. "This is my soul, Myoznitnirn, made real. Tread softly upon it."

A Reality Marble. The name was taken from the same metaphor that I used to explain Marble Phantasms. If a Marble Phantasm was the ability to always draw the one white marble out of the hundred black ones, then a Reality Marble simply changed all the black ones into white ones instead. The valley we had fought on was gone. Now there was only this desolate field.

"What have you done, Gandalfr," she repeated, and this time the rage that had been lacking was laced back into her voice. "What have you done!"

"This is what you face now, Myoznitnirn," I told her, my own rage returning, though now it was cold. This battle had move beyond the point where it was just two foes who hated each other battling to the death. This was now a match between one who had brought an army, and one who had matched that army. "Swords are not enough to win this battle? What you face now is an unlimited number of them: peerless weapons, wielded by heroes and villains, the great and the small alike. An unlimited armory of blades stands before you."

"You dog," she accused me, her anger now red hot and laced with something else: fear. "You treacherous dog!"

"Oh spare me the indignation," I snapped back, annoyed by her outrage. "You're the one who brought a giant and an army to this battle. Don't get self righteous with me now that you know it isn't the mismatch you had planned on." I didn't bother to look at her. I had my eyes focused on something else.

"Fine!" the Myoznitnirn snapped, her voice shaking with rage. "Just because you have more swords doesn't change anything! You only have two hands to wield them, King of Swords!"

I glanced back at her, and I think the smile on my lips unnerved her. "Oh? But you forget, Queen of Dolls," I chided her, my voice set in a sing song pitch. "This is my soul. Did you really think it'd be that easy?"

In a move I stole straight from Gilgamesh, I raised my left hand in the air as I turned away, focused once more on my destination, and I snapped my fingers once. Above me the gears of my soul hung in the sky churned once with a noise like the heartbeat of god. And from the sky a rain of silver flung itself down upon my foes.

*Scene Break*

_ "I picked a fight with him," Guiche muttered, rocking back and forth. "I can't believe I picked a fight with him. What was I thinking, picking a fight with him? It must be my mother's fault. She must have dropped me on my head when I was a child…"_

_ "Big brother," Sylphid gasped, and the dragon's tail lashed furiously as the beast clutched her head with her claws. "It hurts, big brother. Stop it! Stop it! It hurts!"_

_ Whatever it was that Shirou was doing right now it didn't sit right with the dragon. Tabitha attempted to calm the great blue beast as best she could, but it seemed like nothing but the reversal of the strange twisted world they had found themselves in would settle the reptile. _

_ With her Servant's explanation, provided by Tabitha's wind magic, echoing through Louise's head, she could only watch as swords, seemingly emerging from the sky itself launched themselves down like meteorites upon the army of dolls that had once threatened him only moments ago. Louise didn't notice as the mass of dolls were punctured time and again by the endless stream of swords that launched themselves seemingly from nowhere at them. _

_ She was instead staring at the terrain they had suddenly found themselves in._

_ 'Why don't you just stay away from hills?' the question Louise herself had asked so long ago echoed through her mind. No wonder he didn't bother to try and avoid them. He carried them with him at all times, if she understood what had happened moments ago._

_ It was strangely paradoxical, she noted. The fire that spread, like the fire from which her Servant had been born, combined with the great sloping hill covered in the gravestone like swords. Louise knew somehow that this was more than some metaphorical representation of his ideal. This was more than just a realm where he could claim the blades which littered the earth around him._

_ This was her Servant's vision of the future. This was the hill upon which Shirou would someday die. _

_ Her Servant carried his tomb with him wherever he went, and indeed sought it deliberately whenever the battle was strenuous enough to warrant it._

_ As the battle in the valley escalated, Louise dragged herself closer, resisting the urge to back away from the struggle which was unfolding before her._

_ She knew that someday Shirou would die on a hill of swords, against a superior force, and in the defense of others._

_ He stood now on such a hil, and even if the army was gone he still faced a titan being wielded by another Servant like him, and that he was fighting to protect her and Tabitha, and the rest of them as well._

_ But what mattered now was that her Servant would die alone._

_ And she was still here. Shirou was not alone._

_ She prayed that it would be enough._

_ If she had been able to drag her eyes away from the battle between Servants she would have been shocked to see the wand in her hand crackling with power, shedding it like lightning as the instrument of her magic shook in her grip. She might have recalled Derflingers explanation that her willpower would recharge according to her emotional state._

_ But Louise didn't look down or remember. Instead, she was busy swearing that if it wasn't enough, and that if Shirou did fall…_

_ Then she would kill that bitch herself._

*Scene Break*

I walked through the endless field of blades. Around me dolls shattered and broke as a rain of swords descended from the sky. Inside my Reality Marble, the Unlimited Blade Works, was every sword I have ever seen, ever blade I had ever laid eyes on. By transcribing the place in my soul that served as the repository for my weapons onto the real world I was able to recreate every weapon I had ever seen perfectly. There was no degradation of their abilities here, nor even a chance that my concentration might slip and I might flub their tracing. More than that, I had some measure of control over them as well. This was my world made real, and in my world if I wanted the blades to fall from the sky and tear my enemies apart, then they would damn well fall from the sky and tear my enemies apart.

It was an insane technique.

And it wasn't going to be enough.

I could feel the od within me draining away as I pumped it into my construct as I continued to feed it power so that I could resist the corrective impulses of the world. I had changed reality itself, and reality wasn't going to stand by idly and let such disrespect go unpunished. More than that, I might have been able to reconstruct my arsenal in its entirety, but that didn't change the fact that the vast majority of my blades were simple and mundane things. They were more than enough to destroy the alviss assembled here, but against the giant and its protective magic, which had been strong enough to stop even the broken Caliburn?

"Not enough, Gandalfr!" Myoznitnirn shrieked, the giant holding one arm above its head to defend itself from the rain of steel. I could make out her features in the distance, and she wore a mad leer on her face. "Even this won't be enough to save you!"

In the end, she was right: I might have unlimited weaponry here, but I still only had two hands to hold them, and so much od to empower them.

Even as I continued to walk away from her, my enemy forced the giant beneath her to move. Without the alviss hoard she had no choice but to go back on the offensive, and the monster Jormungand once more leapt forward to close on me, it's titanic blade moving far too fast for something of its insane size as it forced its way through the air with a roaring noise.

It didn't matter though. For all the options that Unlimited Blade Works brought to me, in the end it was nothing more than a way for me to deliver my true weapon to me.

Even as the giant charged, I arrived at my destination: at the very center of my Reality Marble, elevated above all the rest and apart from the other naked blades that were buried in the earth, stood one blade and its sheathe, planted solidly in the ground. Both blade and sheathe were blue, traced with gold and set with silver. They were exquisite to behold.

As the giant's blade came down, I took the weapon and unsheathed. With the blade in my right hand I held the sheathe in my left. Turning I held it up as though it were a shield that would block the innumerable tons of the blade as they bore down on me.

"Avalaon," I whispered, and the sheath dissolved into countless gold particles, spreading around me, wrapping around me, embracing me.

When the monster's blade struck, it was repulsed so violently that the sword shattered, launching glowing shards of hot steel back at the giant and the Servant that rode upon it.

"What…?" Myoznitnirn managed to gasp, frantically raising one arm to protect her face even as the giant's protective magic shielded her from the deadly rain of steel that once more was flung at her

Avalan, the sheathe of my Saber's blade. It was crafted by the faeries themselves, and represented the powerful inhuman creatures' wishes for humanity. To simply bear it was to border on immortality, the blade granting its holder immunity even to time as it constantly regenerated its wielder. Wounds that would be instantly fatal could be survived, even going so far as to regenerate missing limbs or organs. And that was only what it meant to hold the sheathe. When called upon as a Noble Phantasm Avalon dissolved and surrounded its wielder, ensconcing them in the safety of the Realm of the Faeries itself. Within its protective embrace, despite still standing in my desolate Reality Marble, I could feel a warm breeze against my face, feel a gentle sun warming me, and smell honeysuckles and lavender. Even as I was still on the field of battle, I was also in another world now.

It was protective magic on a level that surpassed even the Five True Magics. There was nothing in existence that could harm me while in the embrace of Avalon. This was what every other defensive spell ever created could never emulate. Even Counter probably stayed up late at night, sucking its metaphorical thumbs and crying that it could never be this good.

As Myoznitnirn tried to correct the sudden imbalance in her giant's weight, reeling from the sudden loss of its sword, I held my right hand up. The blade held in it shown with light; not just reflecting or glowing but actually shining like a second sun that had descended to earth and was held in my hands. A rush of wind erupted from me, sending a concentric circle of the dusty earth away from me as I charged the blade with od.

"Ex-," I ground out, gritting my teeth and shifting my left and up to help me control the blade in my hand as a column of light emerged from its tip to pierce the sky, "-calibur!" I brought the holy sword, Excalibur, the Sword of Promised Victory, the weapon of my lost lover, the crystallization of the dreams of a planet, the greatest of Noble Phantasms down. From its tip a beam of light launched itself, the only indication of supercharged kinetic light particles that the blade released, a wave of destruction so powerful that this sword could cut the mountains themselves.

The attack struck, and Jormungand ceased to be. Whatever the defensive magic had been, it was brushed aside like so much paper, the steel and whatever it was that was beneath the steel shattering and being torn as the beast was ripped to pieces in one strike. The attack continued on behind the beast, the wave of light carving a valley into the ground of my Reality Marble, a path from where my blade's tip rested against the earth to the horizon of my soul. With one attack, the black giant was no more.

Panting, I turned my eyes to my remaining foe. I don't know what instinct had prompted her to launch herself away from her greatest weapon, but it had served her well. While her giant fell away to the ground in pieces, she had thrown herself into the air. The concussive force of my attack had sent her tumbling like a feather caught in a whimsical breeze. I don't know how she had lived through a fall from such a height, most likely due to the interference of another one of her innumerable pieces of jewelry. She had landed poorly, splayed out on all fours as she panted, her eyes locked on the devastation my one attack had caused. Her breath was coming in short desperate gasps and her eyes were wide as she turned her gaze back to me.

She had brought a monster and an army to this battle, and I had brought nothing but the sword on my back. And now she stood in the heart of my power, while I carried the greatest blade in all of history, and was protected by powers that equaled the gods themselves.

And I really hoped she had no idea just how close this battle really was at this moment.

Unlimited Blade Works was the simultaneous rewriting of reality, along with the creation of every blade I had ever seen. Shaping it, forming it, and maintaining it were no easy things on the best of days. Avalon when used passively as a regenerator was much more user friendly, but to call upon the protection of the faeries took power. Once the sheathe had been used by my adoptive father to save me from hell that my home had become, and the Noble Phantasm had been implanted in my body. It was because of this that I was able to wield it better than any other Phantasm in my collection. My body remembered Avalon in every organ, in my very marrow, down to my cells themselves. It was because of that that I was able to limit the drain that the defensive spell had added to my Reality Marbles upkeep. But Excalibur was another matter. To use the strongest of sword's attack, even once, was a strain that I would not be able to duplicate. That had been the only time I would be able to call upon it in this battle.

I was on the ragged edge of my power now. There was no telling how much more time I could hold up with those three drains on my circuits. I could already feel my od dwindling to dangerous levels. But I couldn't stop, not now. Myoznitnirn was cornered and also on her last leg. I could see it in her eyes that she wanted to flee, and if she did that then she would be one of the ones that had gotten away. She'd have witnessed the true extent of my ability, and when she returned she would be ready for me. I had no doubt that at least one of those jewels on her body was some kind of escape measure. I had to maintain Unlimited Blade Works, trusting on the altered nature of reality to keep her from being able to use her artifacts to escape. And since she couldn't flee now, she was a cornered animal, and cornered animals were dangerous.

From where she kneeled on the ground, her eyes changed. Where only seconds ago she had been gaping at me in terror now her teeth were clenched and her lips drawn back in a snarl, her eyes narrowed in hate. In a quick motion she straightened, keeping her hands on the ground as she extended her legs. It was a posture that reminded me of Rider, and it set me on edge. Nothing good comes from a stance that looked that provocative in the middle of battle.

"You," she growled, apparently unable to say anything else as her rage grew. On her forehead her runes began to glow brighter, and once more her hair began to whip around her. "You…."

Without another word I charged. I didn't have enough power left in me to reinforce, but my own runes were also shining like a torch, and I trusted on the power of Gandalfr to be enough to strike down Myoznitnirn.

As I closed she leapt backwards, throwing one of her hands up in front of her. Fire emerged, probably from one of her rings, a white hot stream of flame like what one could have expected from a flamethrower back in my homeworld. Wrapped in Avalon's embrace I didn't even notice the smell of smoke as I charged through, Excalibur striking fast. She threw up her other hand, and for a moment the blade was slowed long enough for her to slip under it. She reached to her neck and tore one of her necklaces, a length of iron that was set with rubies, and threw it at me with a shriek. The necklace changed mid air becoming a length of razor studded chain like barbed wire that tried to wrap around me. I blocked with the sword in my hand, and it parted. The pieces tried to cling to me, but were unable to find purchase on the barrier around me.

Jewel after jewel she launched her artifacts at me as she retreated. I don't know how she was matching my speed. Maybe it was an aspect of her class as well, or maybe she just had enough personal enhancement artifacts to keep up, but somehow she managed to stay out of reach of my blade enough to avoid a lethal strike. At times Excalibur's tip would find her flesh, but sometimes it would just slide off, and other times it would simply give her a flesh wound. I took a perverse pleasure out of the fact that for once it wasn't me that was having to endure countless minor wounds this time.

If the battle earlier had been a battle of strength with both sides bringing their greatest weapons to bear, the battle had become a battle of endurance now; both of us were on our last leg. It was a question of whether or not she would be able to evade me long enough for me to truly run dry on magic, or if she would run out of treasures that could save her before that. I hoped she didn't know just how close I was to the end of my endurance. Her snarl was getting wider and wider as she frantically tried to stay ahead of my blade. It seemed that her desperation only increased her hatred.

"Gandalfr! Die! Die! Die!" she shrieked at me, and then brought one of her hands to her mouth. I watched in disgust, still trying to stab her as she put her pinky, bearing on it only one ring unlike the rest of her digits, in her mouth and then savagely bit down, severing the appendage in one clean bite. Even as she ignored her own blood spurting onto her face, she spat the finger into the hand it had once been attached too. "Bring me the means to defeat this foe!" she shrieked, ordering whatever treasure she had just sacrificed a piece of herself to activate, and clenched the bloody finger into her fist. From between her knuckles I noted light begin to emit, even as she dodged another strike from Excalibur. I was about to launch my next attack when my instincts screamed at me to dodge. I twisted to the side, forgetting for a second that whatever was about to impact me would be blocked by Avalon, and a silver blur slipped past me. Myoznitnirn, who looked as though she had been expecting this, caught the blur in her still good hand, and then we both froze when we saw what she now held.

Shit. Clenched in her hand was Gram, the sword of Ruin and Glory. It had been wielded by Sigurd in the Middle Ages, another of my powerful Noble Phantasms that I had acquired from Gilgamesh's Gates of Babylon. It was the predecessor of Caliburn itself, the strongest of demonic swords, the bane of dragons.

The runes on Myoznitnirn's forehead glowed, and her smile turned feral.

And it was also, most importantly, a MAGIC ARTIFACT that was now in the hands of the Mind of God.

I blamed the Root for this. It had been going so well too.

My next strike with Excalibur was met by the sword in her hand, and for a moment I could feel the blade in my hand shake as holy sword met demonic sword. And then the blade that was blocking my strike erupted in dark fire. For a second it blocked my vision, and then I was desperately parrying again.

No longer fleeing, Myoznitnirn now stood her ground against me, and the fight got even more vicious. As we exchanged blows, the two blades shrieking against each other as their very natures clashed, I could tell that Myoznitnirn didn't have the first clue how to wield Gram as a sword. She blocked awkwardly, relying on her speed and enhancements to stop me from impaling her. However she was wielding Gram as an artifact at a level that even I couldn't match. The blade in her hand erupted in dark flames, streamers of the fire whipping out at me like lashes, impacting against Avalon's shield uselessly, but at times blinding me so she could strike again. We were both panting now, but I saw her eyes dart down to Excalibur and then back up to me, and her feral smile widen. She had her own Noble Phantasm, and it seemed that as she wielded it she realized just how much of their power came from the user. I could see her making the connection, probably judged by however much the cursed blade in her hand was drinking from her, that there was a reason I hadn't launched an attack like the one that had destroyed Jormungand already.

She knew I was tiring.

I had been maintaining Avalon up to this point to help reinforce the image of invulnerability and power that had shaken her. Now though it was just a drain on me. Shifting Excalibur to one hand I drew Derflinger from my back, and used it to block the black flame of Gram.

"Ow! Hot!" the sword exclaimed, yelping as it encountered the fires of the cursed blade, but it did what I hoped it would: it drank the flame down. Now wielding Excalibur in my right and Derflinger in my left, I let Avalon's defense fall. Myoznitnirn's eyes locked on the defense Phantasm as it reformed in front of me, her gaze greedy, and I pushed forward, overwhelming her with the two blades in my hand so she wouldn't be able to get her hands on it.

This was getting desperate now. It looks like I wasn't just going to be able to run her through like I hoped. My mind raced as our swords locked together, the ring of steel on steel, and the occasional cry from Derflinger of, "Hot!" ringing through the air.

As I felt the last dregs of my od begin to be consumed, I settled on my plan.

I tripped. Trying to regain my footing I sunk the tip of Excalibur into the ground to try and right myself.

Myoznitnirn's eyes narrowed in glee as I fell, and the black flames of Gram launched at me. Desperately I flung up Derflinger, the blade drinking the fire down and protecting me, but the Mind of God swung Gram hard, and the sentient blade was knocked from my grip. Now defenseless, half kneeling, and with my other blade trapped by the earth, Myoznitnirn raised Gram above her head. I could see it in her eyes, the savage delight she was going to take as she cut me down with one of my own blades. I wondered if she planned on taking my head as a trophy for her Master after she did so?

Instead of her carving my skull open like she planned, I instead launched myself at her, leaving Excalibur behind and catching another weapon that I summoned to me without a second glance. "Enkidu!" I shouted, my voice guttural. The hand that once held Derflinger wrapped around the hands holding Gram, and Myoznitnirn's eyes widened as chains surrounded us, wrapping around us. Enkidu, yet another Phantasm that I had gained from my old foe Gilgamesh, the chains which had been used to trap even the bull of heaven. The chain grew stronger if it was used against divinity. Unfortunately neither one of us was divine, so I doubted it would be too effective for long.

The two of us were cocooned together, face to face, chest to chest, hip to hip, and belly to belly. Above our heads Gram was held, Myoznitnirn struggling to bring it down so she could finish me, and I could see her snarl as she realized she wouldn't be able to cut me down. If she tried to use Gram's flame this close there was no doubt that she would catch herself in the same attack.

As she snarled at me, I gave her a cold smile back.

Then I turned the blade that my right hand held clutched between our bodies so that it would cut the both of us, and drew it across both of our flesh at the same time.

Blinding pain shattered through me, and I let loose a shriek as fire burned through my magic circuits. Around me my Reality Marble fractured like glass, and reality twisted as it dissolved, the true nature of the world reasserting itself after so long. As it did so the chain binding the two of us together disappeared, as did the sword we were both fighting over. Agony set upon my left hand, I screamed again, a noise echoed by the woman I had been fighting. We both spasmed, our bodies jerking in uncontrollable reaction to the pain and the magic coursing through us.

Simultaneously we both fell to the earth, gasping desperately as we did so.

Well, it looked like that didn't work as well as I had hoped it would.

"What did you do, Gandalfr?" the woman next to me gasped, her voice still laced with pain. "I will kill you slowly for this indignity," she assured me, though the shakiness of her words might have undermined the seriousness of them.

"Sure you will," I muttered, slowly managing to make it onto all fours. By the blessed Root, that had hurt way more than I thought it would. I could feel my body shaking as it tried to overcome the flood of endorphins and adrenaline the sudden agony had forced into it.

"Slowly," my enemy repeated, also beginning to regain her feet. The two of us must have made for a pathetic sight as we stumbled our way to standing positions. "I will…." She trailed off, looking uncertain about something. "I will…." She paused again, and her eyes darted to her hands. "What happened?" she whispered in shock. "Gandalfr, what did you do?" she began to snarl.

"You've been asking that a lot lately," I pointed out to her, my tired mind latching onto that inane statement. I shook my head quickly and focused. "It was called Rulebreaker," I informed her, though she was now too busy running her hands over her jewels, her eyes widening and panic beginning to set in. "It was a blade granted to Medea of Colchis by the gods themselves. It has the power to sever any magical contract without consequence for any party involved." I frowned. "Well, it was supposed to be without consequence. I'm fairly sure it didn't hurt this much the last time I stopped being Gandalfr."

"What?" Sheffield whispered, her eyes wide in horror. She began to paw at her ears, fingering one of them in particular. "Master. Master, where are you? Why can't I hear you, Master? Master Joseph?" she begged, now scratching at the earing that I assumed was what let her communicate with her Master, well, her former Master whose name was apparently Joseph. I locked away that little tidbit for later.

"Don't bother," I told her finally managing to straighten all the way. "You're not the Mind of God anymore, Sheffield. Your artifacts are useless."

"No. No. No no no NONONONONo!" she shrieked, now clawing at her ears and chest, her fingernails digging into her skin as she ran them over her artifacts which were now nothing more than tacky jewelry for her. I began to laugh at her, slowly at first but gradually getting louder. It seemed to snap her out of whatever panic she had fallen into. "You," she hissed, her hands clenched into fists and her voice furious. "You think this is funny! You betrayed your Master too! You treacherous…"

"No!" I exclaimed, holding one of my hands up desperately. "No, not that. It's just, well, this entire battle, your boot has been unlaced."

"What?" she asked, confused by my observation, and glancing down involuntarily to see what I was talking about.

That was when I sucker punched her. She fell with a surprised shriek, and I fell on top of her. My body was still too weak, and it would shake at random, but I mounted the surprised woman and set about beating her to death with my bare hands to the best of my ability.

She was confused right now, disoriented, but that would pass. After the first time I had lost my Gandalfr runes I had discovered that just because I didn't glow anymore it didn't change the fact that I still retained the experience and muscle memory that I had acquired with my weapons when I had them. If I gave her enough time then Sheffield would be able to relearn the abilities that had once come naturally to her. More than that, it was entirely possible that her Master would just be able to reestablish his contract with her. If she managed to escape now, she would still have her treasury of artifacts, and she would still be a threat to Louise. So even though I was too weak to hold a sword right now, even though I was completely drained of magic, even though I felt like I had just stuck both my hands into two separate electric sockets while standing in a puddle, I was going to finish this fight.

Even if that required me simply crushing her skull with my fists.

The first punch disoriented her, and it gave me time to mount her so she couldn't escape. I hailed down blow after blow, sometimes from my fists sometimes from my elbows. It didn't matter. What mattered was killing her. After the third blow she began to fight back, her long nails clawing at me, scratching at my face. One of them came dangerously close to my eye, and I could only see red after that as blood poured down into it. It was the first wound I received in this battle, strangely enough.

It was harder than I thought, beating someone to death. It turns out that the human skull is actually sturdier than a human's fists. At some point I felt the fingers in my left hand shatter as they impacted against her bruised and swelling face. I shifted my plan to instead grabbing her by her long hair and driving her head back into the ground over and over again with my right hand. When that didn't work I managed to find a piece of shattered steel left over from the giant with my left hand. It took me a moment to grasp it with my broken fingers, and it hurt like hell, but I managed to drag it under her skull that I was still slamming against the earth. That worked better.

I wasn't sure how long I was actually at it, running on nothing more than adrenaline at that point, but finally, eventually, she stopped moving. I leaned back, still kneeling over the corpse that was cooling in front of me, and desperately gasped for air. By the Root I was tired.

Across the clearing from me a voice spoke up. I glanced over to see Derflinger present. That's right. Derflinger had been a real sword and not a part of my Reality Marble, so it had continued to exist even while the rest of my simulated reality had disappeared. "Your boot is unlaced?" the sword asked me, its voice incredulous. "You show me magic so powerful that it recreated existence, and blades so strong that they're leaving me feeling a little inadequate, and at the end of it all you tell her her boot is unlaced?"

I shrugged uncomfortably. "It worked, didn't it?"

For a second the sword was quiet, and then it began to laugh helplessly. For a moment I looked at it blankly, and then I joined it. Our laughter echoed through the still valley which had been rearranged by the battle that had just ended. Finally, we both trailed away into chuckles.

"Partner, you are without a doubt the most amusing person to ever wield me," the sword told me, and I gave it a tired grin.

"Glad to amuse, Derf," I told it, my voice exhausted. Slowly I once more struggled my way to my feet. Before walking away from the body in front of me, I began searching it, tugging its clothing sideways as I did so. I'd have to come back here later and loot it completely, if not so that I could have all her neat toys for myself then so that they couldn't be recovered by her Master later, but for now I just wanted to make sure I found one of them. When I finally uncovered the Ring of Andvari, I tugged it hard, breaking the cord it was laced to. Other rings, no doubt priceless artifacts themselves spilled to the ground, tinkling against each other as they did so. Finally, I started making my way towards Derflinger, pausing only long enough to step on Sheffield's head, as I had promised her earlier. "Don't worry," I told the corpse. "You won't be lonely for long."

I managed to make it to the sword, pulling it free from the earth it was stuck in, and began making my way out of the valley. I had to use the sentient blade as a crutch as I did so, but it didn't complain. I had only made it perhaps a dozen yards towards the border when I stumbled, and found myself suddenly being supported by another.

"Louise?" I muttered, unsure if I was really seeing my once again former Master. "Didn't I tell you to leave?"

"As though I'd leave my Servant behind that easily," she snorted at me, looking up from beneath my left arm as she wrapped it around her shoulder to help me stay upright. She glanced at my broken fist, seeing it once more free of runes and sighed. "Breaking the contract again are you, Shirou?" she shook her head in scolding at me and 'tsked'. "Are you that eager to get away from me?" her voice was soft as she teased me.

"Totally justified, Louise," I muttered back to her. My head was swimming, and it was taking everything I had to stay on my feet. "Would you mind terribly if I took a nap real quick?" I managed to get out before I collapsed onto my knees, nearly dragging down Louise as I did so.

"It's fine," she assured me, helping me lay down and keeping me from accidently stabbing myself with Derflinger. "Go ahead and rest, Shirou. It's okay. We'll get you back to my home so you can heal up."

"I obeyed your orders," I whispered, my good eye starting to close shut. "I won, and I came back."

The last thing I saw before I passed out was my tiny pink haired friend smiling at me. "Yes," she whispered, leaning down to kiss me on the forehead. "You did."

*Scene Break*

_ The day after Louise and the others made it back to her home was a busy one. Henrietta was waiting for them, and there was a brief panic as the Queen and Louise's mother found themselves united in worry over the wounded Shirou. Henrietta, as skilled with using her water magic for healing as battle attended him herself, knitting back together even the eye that had been clawed open. After that there had been nothing left to do but wait for him to wake up. They had filled that time with debriefings, explanations, and a dozen other details that needed to be taken care of, details like Henrietta announcing that she had decided to officially name Louise as her sister and the second in line for the throne of Tristain, and Louise awkwardly explaining to her family just what her element truly was. _

_That night Louise dreamed of chasing a bunny with a watch down a rabbit hole and having strange adventures therein._

_ The second day after that was similarly busy, though Shirou slept through it completely. Louise had ridden with her mother out to where the battle had taken place, the enormous shattered hulk of the giant a testament to the intensity of the fight. They had had to take Karin's manticore rather than Sylphid, mostly because Tabitha was refusing to leave Shirou's side. It seemed she was serious about becoming his Servant, an act which raised many eyebrows from those who knew of it. After they had returned home and Louise had described the battle to her mother, Louise was mildly unnerved when Karin began to refer to Shirou as 'Son in Law' rather than by his name. Louise only hoped that her mother would return to considering Cattleya as her primary method of making that name true._

_ That night Louise dreamed of being a bride, though she couldn't quite make out just who it was she was marrying. _

_ The third day after the battle Shirou disappeared. He left a note behind saying 'Gone to kill King of Gallia. Back soon.' And signed it with a series of strange characters that Louise assumed were used in his home world. There was a P.S. that read 'Tabitha, look after Louise while I'm gone'._

_ Needless to say, this caused a certain amount of uproar in the manor at large, though Louise really felt she should have seen it coming. Even as Henrietta began panicking and ordering search parties, and Karin began looking for her manticore, Louise was calm. Agnes, who had accompanied the queen noticed this, and seemed to realize what had actually happened. When her guard suddenly began laughing, Henrietta had demanded answers. The captain of the Musketeer squad's explanation was enough to calm everyone else down._

_ When Louise began her summoning ritual that evening, she didn't tell anyone that this time she wasn't using a reagent to call her long time former Servant. Part of her wondered if she should have. She didn't believe that there could possibly be any other soul more matched for her, but she couldn't help but wonder if maybe there was. So just like she had at the Ball of Sleipner, she closed her eyes, grit her teeth, and trusted in her magic and her heart._

_ When Shirou's tall form stood in front of her once more, his crooked half smile fixed on his face, and he asked her "Are you my Master" for the third time she smiled back at him._

_ "Yes," she responded._

_ That night Louise dreamed of sword and battles._


	23. Last Episode

The Hill of Swords: Last Episode

Author's notes: The theme song for this chapter is Yume no Owari. I won't say anything else now, but at the end of the chapter I have a small section I've titled 'Author's Conclusion'.

*Story Start*

_On a hill in the northern part of the Valliere's estate in the northern regions of the country of Tristain, a hill nearly completely untouched by human hands, there rested a sword. It was buried blade first at the summit, its steel shaft shining silver amongst the green grass it rested in, its hilt glimmering gold from the sun that shone down on it._

_There were many people gathered around the sword. On one side a tall blond man stood. Belted at his hip is a wand sword, a sign of his status as a knight. Beside him stood another blond, this one a woman, her hair curly as it flowed down her back. Between them was a boy, clutching both of their larger hands in his tiny one. To their side were three other men, all of them similarly armed as the first man was. One was a tall and well muscled fellow, another slim and somber. Between the two of them a slim woman with dark hair wrested her hands on both of their shoulders simultaneously. The two seemed grateful for the contact. The last was a giant of a man, with thick limbs and a large frame. He stood alone, but did not seem dissatisfied with his solitude._

_To their side, a bit apart from them, stood a woman with long pointed ears and blond hair. Her frame was very slight, though her chest was another matter. Beside her stood a young man, hovering behind her protectively. Unlike the other's he held no wand, but instead had a sword belted to his waist. He stood as though guarding the one in front of him, perhaps in repayment for some debt, perhaps because at one point the girl had been like both a mother and a sister to him, or perhaps it was because they were lovers, though no one besides them would ever truly know which option was the truth._

_There was one more group of people standing beside the sword, though these were all women. Two of these women wore crowns, the mark of station resting upon gently upon their heads. The first of the two wearing crowns had dark hair, nearly purple in the light, and wore a white gown. In her hand was a scepter. Beside her on her left was a servant wearing the uniform of a maid, though despite the clothing denoting a lower station they were well tailored. The maid, who was the only one amongst the group to have black hair, stood as though she were attending the woman in white. On the woman in whites other side stood another, this one with blond hair and green eyes, bearing a sword at her waist and a bandoleer of pistols across her chest. The other woman wearing a crown had blue hair beneath the mark of station. She was shorter than many of the others who were in attendance, though not as short as she might once have been. In her hand was a crooked staff, and she wore much simpler clothing than the woman in white had. Beside her on her right was a woman that looked like she might have been her sister, also with blue hair, though she was much taller than the girl with the crown. On the blue haired woman's right was a tall dark skinned woman with red hair. She wore clothing much more provocative than many of the others whom were in attendance, though the hand the redhead rested on the blue haired girls shoulder was somber._

_Though they were all different in appearance, they had all gathered before the sword in the hill for the same reason: to mourn the one who rested beneath it._

_Some of those gathered were crying, some were silent in their respect. Many of them were glancing about, as though they expected there to be another present, and were searching for the missing member._

*Scene Break*_  
_

Much further away, on another hill entirely in fact, but still with a line of sight to the assembled group, a final woman lay on the ground, her legs propped up as she watched the sky. She wore simple clothing, functional rather than ornate, and had pink hair, a figure that was obviously feminine yet not as gifted as some that had gathered on the distant hill, and appeared to be somewhere in her mid twenties. She had a cloak spread over the grass of the hill was laying on it, chewing slowly on a piece of grass. Beside her, propped up on a rock, rested a sheathed sword.

"You could still head over there and join them, Louise," the sword spoke, shattering the quiet that had permeated the clearing.

"Its fine," Louise answered. The years had been kind to her, and she wore her status as a woman, and not the child she had grown out, of well. "I don't need to mourn him. In fact, I'm happy for him. I don't think the others would understand that."

"I hardly understand it," the sword groused, sounding annoyed. It let loose a sigh. "Well, even if you won't mourn him, I'm gonna miss him. It just won't be the same without partner around."

The woman sighed as well. "Even if I'm happy for him, I'll miss him too, Derflinger." She sat up, spitting the grass she had been gnawing on to the side and turning her gaze to the distant hill where her friends had gathered to pay their respects. "You think he'd like it? His grave?"

"He always said he'd find his end on a hill of swords. Maybe we should plant a few more around there just to be sure," the sword speculated. Louise rubbed her chin slowly, thinking about it.

"I don't know," she muttered, considering. "Wouldn't that be kind of tacky?"

"How should I know what you humans consider tacky?" the sword pointed out. "I'm just a sword."

Louise sighed in aggravation. "Yes, I know. You keep pointing that out." For a moment she glared at the blade, and she had the impression that if Derflinger had eyes it'd be glaring right back. Then she sighed and the moment passed.

"So what are you going to do next, Louise?" the sword finally asked, curiosity in its voice. "Going to meet up with the Queen over there again after this?"

The pink haired woman was silent for a second, and then she shook her head slowly. "No. No I don't think I will. I'm tired, Derflinger. Tired of all the stupid politics, and the pointless missions, and the repetitive wars. I think I might just spend some time for myself. Travel maybe. See parts of the world I haven't been to yet. Maybe meet up with a few of the people we came across in the past."

"A few of the people?" the sword asked, and then its voice turned sly. "Like that Julio, maybe?"

"I thought we agreed never to talk about that slimy playboy again. Him or that asshole Pope, Victorio," Louise snapped, flushing as she did so.

"Oh?" the sword teased her. "But you two were such good friends, you and Julio. You two and that other guy, what was his name? Penterdon? You must have been good friends if the three of you..."

"That was a mana exchange ritual and you know it!" Louise snapped, and then buried her face into her hands and groaned. "That really was so much funnier when it was happening to Shirou," she ground out, and then froze as she realized she had spoken the name she had been trying so hard not to say.

For several minutes after that, neither of the two said anything. Finally Derflinger once more spoke up, this time its voice was serious. "Louise, I have to ask. He'd want me to ask. Why haven't you summoned a new Servant yet?"

"I can't," Louise admitted, her voice laced with sorrow as she did so.

"Why not, Louise?" the sword pushed. Louise knew that it was doing so out of duty to its departed partner, so she didn't begrudge the blade its insistence. "Shirou would have scolded you for not doing so by now."

"Because if I were to summon again, who do you think would show up?" Louise pointed out.

"Well, considering what happened the last five times," the sword said slowly. "But he's dead now, Louise."

"Five times. Did he really manage to break the contract that many times?" Louise muttered, and then shook her head, her pink hair flopping as she did so. "No. Just because he's dead doesn't mean I won't call him. You know about Heroic Spirits, Derf. Do you have any doubt in your hilt that the 'King of Swords', the 'Elf Bane', the 'Endless Armory' himself wouldn't qualify?"

"Well, with fancy titles like that, I guess he most likely would," the sword admitted. Louise gave a decisive nod.

"If I tried to summon, then it would almost certainly be him that returned," the pink haired woman continued. "And I don't want to do that to him. Not now, after he's finally managed to find her again."

"So you're going to go it alone then?" Derflinger asked, its voice serious.

"It's not like I'm some kind of helpless damsel in distress," Louise pointed out, and her voice was confident as she did so. "Shirou's not the only one who made a name for himself these last few years. I'm the 'Duchess of Emptiness', remember. Shirou himself trained me in combat. I might not have been at his level, but I can wield a sword better than most, and ever since he helped me open my circuits it's not like I can be disarmed anymore."

"Oh?" the sword asked, its tone sly once more. "Someone's getting full of themselves. I'd agree that you've been making a name for yourself. After all, there are quite a few rumors out there now, aren't there?"

Louise sniffed in disdain, turning her head to the side. "Most of those have been blown way out of proportion, and even if they were true, there's nothing wrong with a strong, confident woman occasionally having the opportunity to indulge herself. If I do, it's no one's business but mine if I'm not alone in my bedroom."

"Just so long as your mother never catches up with you," the sword added, and Louise nodded without hesitation.

"Just so long as my mother never does," she agreed. She sighed and cast one more look over at the mourners on the hill across from her. "Still, I can't believe that Shirou never did so himself," she muttered, shaking her head at all the lost opportunities her Servant had squandered. "He had women throwing themselves at him, often in groups, and not once did he ever take them up on it." She shook her head in disbelief. "So many wasted opportunities," she mourned regretfully.

"Well, not all of them anyway," the sword muttered, and Louise froze, turning slowly in order to stare at it.

"Wait," she said slowly. "Are you serious?"

"I've been sworn to secrecy," the sword told her solemnly. Louise spun, and using one of the skills Shirou had ground into her head once she started learning how to use his method of magic she reinforced her eyes, focusing them on the group of women that had been Shirou's most loyal.

There. If she hadn't been looking for it, she would never have seen it. It was nothing more than a hand gently resting on a belly, but the implication of it caused Louise's eyes to shoot open.

"N-n-no way!" she gaped. "So they really…and now she's…" For a moment the pink haired mage could only stare, and then she collapsed back onto the ground, rolling with laughter. "Oh," she gasped through her laughter. "Oh! The Water Spirit will be happy! It always doted on Shirou. I'll have to let it know its blessing will be continued!" Beside her the sword chuckled softly itself.

After her laughter finally puttered out Louise lay gasping on her cloak, staring at the sky. The warm light of the late afternoon sun poured down on her, warming her to her core.

Finally, she stood, collecting her cloak as she did so. Grasping the Derflinger by its sheathe, she shrugged the blade onto her shoulder.

"So where to next? You were right about one thing," the sword spoke up. "You are pretty famous now. I doubt you're going to be able to slip about easily when the name Louise Valliere is so well known."

"Well," the pink haired woman said, pulling her cloak's hood up to conceal her distinctive hair. "I was thinking of traveling under a pseudonym," she admitted. The sword shook in surprise.

"Oh? Like what?" it asked.

"How about 'Blue'?" Louise propositioned, and this time it was the swords turn to freeze, and then start laughing helplessly.

One last time before she left, the sword still guffawing, she turned to glance back at the grave behind her. "Well, Saber," she whispered softly. "I looked after him as best I could. He's yours now." Louise smiled softly. "Congratulations, Shirou."

*Scene Break*

How long had he been searching? It was hard for him to remember sometimes. The endless battles, the pain, the bloodshed, within his mind the suffering and struggling had become blurred. There were times when the only thing he could remember was that he was searching for something, and other times when he only knew that he had to keep going forward. And so he continued, always forward.

How long had she been waiting? At times it was hard for her to remember. A life that had been filled with sacrifice, with duty, with uncompromising ideals, followed by a slumber so deep that it seemed nothing would ever be able to wake her from it. But even in the endless sleep, she had dreamed, longing for someone to come and find her. And so she waited, always waiting.

And finally, after all the searching, he had found who he was looking for. Just as she, after all her patience, had finally awoken to the arrival of the one she had waited for.

At the edge of a forest, a man stood. In front of him, stretching endless were fields of the greenest, softest grass he had ever laid eyes on. Above him, the sky stretched just as endlessly, a gentle blue feathered lightly with clouds of the softest white. The warm sun beat down on him, warming his face, and seeping into his heart and soul as it did so. Behind him, in the endless dark forest he had exited he had left a great weight, a weight that he had shouldered for so long.

In front of him was a woman. Her long hair, as gold as the sun above him blew in the soft breeze that rustled the grass of the field. Her green eyes found his, and she smiled.

He smiled back.

"I'm home, Saber."

"Welcome home, Shirou."

"Even if the author is silent, the performance is stopped, the story will not end.

Whether it's comedy or tragedy, if there is cheering the story will continue on.

Just like many lives.

For the us who are still in it and still in the journey, send warm blessings.

-We will continue to walk down this path until eternity."

Fate/stay night, Realta Nua, Last Episode

Author's conclusion:

It's hard to say just what I was thinking when I began Hill of Swords. I remember that the idea festered for a long time before it finally found an exit, but I didn't think back then that it would ever escalate to the level it apparently has. Over three hundred and sixty thousand words, averaging twenty five pages per chapter, at twenty three chapters, with well over a thousand reviews.

I think when I first began I just wanted to put a story out there where Shirou and Saber were finally able to be together. In the original game, there was not one path that let them end up together. The closest Shirou and Saber ever got was the good ending of the Unlimited Blade Works route, and even then that was with Rin in there as well. I also wanted to be able to portray two protagonists, male and female, that didn't end up together. It seems that wherever I look the legend of the platonic friends is nothing more than a myth that nobody believes will ever happen.

I never imagined that I would ever make something this long, or as apparently well received as it was. Thank you, my readers, for your support. Not just those who spoke up in praise, but also those who offered criticism, aide in developing my writing style, and help in evolving as a writer. Thank you.

And those of you who spoke up in praise? Oh yeah, that felt good. Thanks definitely to you too.

When I wrote my first story, "Finishing What You Start", I mentioned that the title was a dig at those who started so many amazing stories and then never finished them. It's because of that that I believe in giving my stories definitive conclusions. It is why I now bring "The Hill of Swords" to an end. It is a bit more open than many of you might have wanted. I'm sure that some wish I could continue this tale, drawing on the books to come from Familiar of Zero, or perhaps branch out on my own and craft a whole new plot.

Sadly, this will not be the case.

When I began Hill of Swords, I had already planned the entire storyline in my head. I was writing scenes in my head that would take place throughout from the moment I first started typing the first chapter. And now that I have finished what I set out to do, I don't know if I could continue it, not at the level that you, my readers, have come to expect. So instead I give you the ending that I had planned from the beginning. It is an open ending, alluding to things that happened that will probably never be penned, and allowing the reader to draw their own conclusion and write their own stories within.

And no, I will never say just who it was that finally managed to bag Shirou. The mother of his child will be left to the reader's imagination. I know who my favorite is, but I'll never tell.

Though it does appear that Louise finally gave in to her curiosity about kinky threesomes, doesn't it?

I do think I might write a few small side stories and expansions like I mentioned considering earlier. I might take a break before I do, but if I do it will be called "Hill of Swords: Tiger Dojo" It'll probably be posted in the miscellaneous section under 'anime x-overs' when I do. So far I'm playing around with the original Familiar of Zero world, Negima, Fairy Tail , and a few just general scenes from the original story that I just couldn't find a way to fit into the Hill of Swords, like the beach episode.

But that will be later.

For now, my readers, thank you and goodnight.

Fin.


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